My SSS-Rank Gluttony Talent: I Can Evolve Limitlessly
Chapter 72: Yano attack

Chapter 72: Yano attack

"I’m correct, aren’t I?!" Yano suddenly shouted, his voice laced with fury. "That’s why you’re not saying anything!"

The wobbly pool of blood sticking to the open cut across his torso slowly peeled away, floating into the air in front of him.

Its deep red hue glistened in the sun, drops dripping down from it. But not one of the drops hit the ground, rising back to join the floating blood soon after.

Yano raised his staff and gave it a sharp swirl in the air.

Slosh!

The blood twisted instantly, spiralling in fast, tight circles around the weapon like a red cyclone.

Then, without warning—

"You’re not leaving here... with anything!" Yano roared.

He kicked off the ground and dashed forward, his feet kicking off a few clumps of dirt into the air.

Terry gnashed his teeth the moment he moved.

’Why would you attack?!’ he thought, his brow furrowing with frustration. ’We don’t even know who... or what we’re dealing with!’

He always knew Yano to be bold and reckless, but this was far beyond what he knew he was capable of.

Apart from that, whoever that strange played was, he hadn’t attacked them at all. Not even once.

He’d only responded to questions and stood still ever since his arrival. In Terry’s mind, that meant there was still a chance—however small—that this man wasn’t their enemy.

But Yano didn’t give a damn about such thoughts.

All he knew was that he was the one supposed to kill that monster boss... he was the one supposed to emerge as the ’winner’ today.

’I should be taking all the rewards... the praises... no one will take that away from me!’ he thought, the blood around his staff rapidly condensing in a small circle at the tip.

It spun faster until the air around it seemed to distort from how violently it was spinning.

Then he raised it.

"Blood Scythe!" he shouted, swinging the staff in Riley’s direction with every ounce of strength he could muster.

The blood gathered at the tip suddenly launched forward, compressing into a single sharp arc mid-flight.

It shot out like a whip of light, its edge sharp and curved, exactly like a scythe.

Swish!

The blood scythe tore through the air with a sharp hiss, rapidly closing in on Riley.

The crowd of players gasped as it closed the distance in mere seconds, shocked at the sheer power behind it.

Riley’s eyes narrowed, and then as the attack was about to hit him, he seemingly vanished from the spot, along with the massive body of the scorpion.

Bang!

The scythe slammed into the ground with a deafening bang, carving through the ground like a blade through wet paper.

A deep trench split open beneath the strike, dirt and rocks exploding into the air, clouding the area.

"Did... did it hit him?"

"No way he survived that..."

"Where is he?!"

Dozens of players muttered from behind the fog, their gazes darting through the brown smoke for any sign of the strange man.

No one had seen him move, not even the remaining top ten members of Yano’s guild, or Terry himself.

All they could see was the deep trench carved across the ground by the attack, and they couldn’t help but wonder about Riley’s current condition.

’Was he hit?’ Terry thought, his eyes narrowed at the cloud of dust.

For some reason, he didn’t think that attack even landed a graze on Riley, and that only made him more curious about his true strength.

Yano, however, was already gnashing his teeth.

His arms trembled slightly, his chest rising and falling faster with each breath. He could tell something was wrong, deeply wrong.

He knew his attack hadn’t connected.

With his blood sense, he should have felt it. The moment the scythe made contact, even the tiniest drop of blood would have resonated with his senses.

But instead, he felt... nothing. Just the feeling of his blood scythe hitting the ground.

Then—

A sharp gust of wind brushed against the back of his neck, along with a voice.

"Attacking someone like that is pretty disrespectful, don’t you think?"

Yano’s eyes widened in shock. That voice—it was him.

Without even thinking, he spun around and swung his staff backwards, aiming to hit whoever was behind him.

Clack!

And yet, his staff suddenly froze midway.

A hand had gripped the tip of his weapon, stopping it dead in its tracks.

The dust slowly began to settle, falling like ash around them.

And there, standing just a few steps in front of him, was the same dark-haired figure. Riley.

His long black hair shifted slightly in the fading breeze. His dark blue eyes were colder now, and the amused smirk from before was gone—replaced by a calm, expressionless stare that made Yano’s breath hitch in his throat.

Behind Riley, the massive corpse of the Crimson Blood Scorpion loomed once again, resting silently on the earth as though it had never vanished.

’He carried that massive body... yet he was able to move that fast?! How...?’ Yano thought, the frown on his face deepening. ’Just how strong is he...’

Nonetheless, this wasn’t the time to get distracted.

He gritted his teeth and tried to yank his staff out of the stranger’s grip.

But it didn’t budge.

He grunted, tugging again with more force.

Still nothing.

It was like trying to pull the weapon out of a boulder. The man’s grip didn’t even twitch—not a finger, not a knuckle.

Riley continued to stare at him in silence.

His eyes remained cold and nonchalant, like he was simply toying with an annoying little brat.

And that only made Yano feel even worse.

He sucked in a breath, about to brace himself for one last attempt to pull out his staff when—

Riley let go.

The staff jerked free with no resistance, and the unexpected force sent Yano stumbling backwards.

"Ugh—!"

He staggered wildly, quickly stabilising himself by slamming the butt of his staff into the ground.

His chest heaved, sweat crawling down the side of his neck.

He panted for a moment, blinking rapidly, still gripping the staff like a lifeline.

’How... is he so strong?’ he thought.