Tim was a summoner.
The more capable fire-element rankers Tim faced, the more his understanding of his element grew. The more his understanding grew, the more powerful he became. And the more powerful he got, the better fire-element rankers he could battle with. This was the cycle Tim had created for himself. All while taking risks that weren't too fatal.
But there was something about Tuan that he couldn't place a finger on. He didn't look to be as strong of a fire-element user as he had thought him to be. At least not as strong as Bianka had portrayed him to be.
And yet, the Fire Serpent King had an inkling that things weren't as clear as they looked to be. Langdon's words only confirmed his doubts. As he was used to tapping into the higher consciousness for his summons, Tim had a special sixth sense to analyze his opponents. He would get certain knowledge about his opponents even before he fought with them.
Through that sense, Tim could feel that he was a better fire-element user than Tuan. so he concluded that Tuan must have better artifacts or weapons he hadn't shown to the world yet. This wasn't enough to get Tim back out. He also felt that his understanding of the fire element would grow tremendously if he manages to beat him up.
So instead of pulling away from the battle or letting Langdon take his leave, Tim chose to box Tuan in.
Not knowing what kind of entity he was trying to box in.
Tuan heard what the two raid partners were talking about. They were conversing out in the open instead of using ID communication. He could only laugh mirthlessly at this point.
'Well, I did my best to limit casualties so Tuan didn't stand out too much. But if his name is going to get the limelight, I might as well add a few blemishes to make his legend believable.'
Tuan had a gentle smile on his face as he thought of killing and consuming both of the humans.
"Enough talks, you pyromaniac bastard and piss-water baldy. Why don't you show me what you got instead of sucking each other's dicks?"
Butcher cursed himself for having such a weak game in trash talk. To be honest, he had prepared a lot of verbal jabs for Bianka and her team. But the two competitors in front of him were wild entries. So this is what he could come up to. His only hope was that these two guys were straight and not in a relationship. Otherwise, his trash talk would sound more like a compliment.
Langdon was visibly furious when he heard Tuan's words. He looked at Tim before commenting.
"Tim, you better get this guy for good as soon as you can. No dilly-dallying. Otherwise, I'll be stepping in to kick and take both of you out."
Tim was also irked by Tuan's foul words. What he didn't know was that Tuan was only warming up earlier. Tim discussed with both of them some more before Tim could seriously consider hurting him for real.
"Tim Westmoor– The King of Fire Serpents? Hahahaha! Who even came up with that pretentious title? Tim, my man, are your fans as obnoxious as you?
I'll skewer your ass in my fire and feed that to dogs before calling you anything like that. Then again, your name is Tim. So I guess any title is fine as long as it doesn't have the word Tim in it, am I right? Hahaha!"
Tuan spewed some more verbal venom through his mouth before getting the reaction he wanted from Tim. Both rankers were stunned by Tuan's handling of the whole scene. But slowly, they couldn't help but develop animosity towards Tuan.
Of course, the trash talk alone wasn't enough to make the two sane rankers angry. But unbeknownst to all three of them, Tuan's soul sense was still manifesting passively, carrying the residual effect of his Sins series ability– Sin of Wrath. That had started to affect Tim and Langdon subconsciously as well.
They both signed the binding contracts immediately– ensuring they won't backstab each other in their fight against the butcher. Tim would attempt to remove Tuan all by himself depending on their condition. But Langdon would step in if and when he sees the summoner losing.
"That's it you piece of cucked shit. Now I understand why your wife left you. it's because of your foul mouth."
Tuan shook his head and smiled with a wicked grin after hearing Tim's rebuttal. He responded just as quickly.
"No, Tim. You don't know the whole story. She left me because she caught me cheating behind her back– with your mom."
'Eren, just because your mother is what she is, it doesn't mean everybody would be okay with their mother getting dragged into their problems. They'll get…'
Alephee spoke suddenly when she heard the butcher's vicious words. Then she realized that was his plan all along. To make the guys angry. She realized that Tuan had made up his mind to use his Sins series abilities on them.
Tim didn't offer any verbal response this time. The guy was fuming with rage. There were literally flames surrounding his body at the time. He closed his eyes briefly before casting his spell using silent chanting.
A series of flame pillars were created all around Tim. A unique mana pulse was released all at once by the flame pillars, making Tuan unable to reach Tim while he was mid-casting the stacked animated spell.
Langdon had also decided that he was only planning to wait for a few minutes before stepping into the battle. The guy wanted to rip Tuan to shreds before making him whole again only to rip him to shreds once more. If Tim was angry about his mother getting dragged into the mess, then Langdon was angry at Tuan for questioning his orientation. He stroked his thick mustache again to console himself.
Eight lifelike fire serpents made their appearance on the battlefield at the time and they all stared at one guy-- Tuan Aag.
'So this is how a real summoner fights.'
Tuan commented in his mind as he stopped in his tracks.
