Zane didn't know that Rover had followed him into the illusion. At this moment, when he looked at Scar, his eyes were filled with anger.
"Scar, I didn't manage to kill you back then. Today, no matter what, I won't let you escape."
"Ha." Facing Zane's killing intent, Scar let out a wild laugh. Holding a playing card, he slashed toward Zane's neck.
On the opposite side, Zane took out a riot baton from who knows where. He stepped forward with his left foot to close the distance, then swung his right hand, drawing an arc through the air, carrying a whistling wind as it slammed hard into the black sheep playing card.
Zane knew very well that for Scar, the length of a playing card was far shorter than a riot baton. In mid-range combat, he could basically only take hits.
So Scar had to close the distance between them.
"I'm curious, didn't you already leave the city? How did you show up here?"
As Scar spoke, he casually threw away the playing card that blocked Zane's baton.
At the same time, taking advantage of the moment when Zane's guard was wide open from swinging the baton, two new cards suddenly appeared in his hands and slashed toward Zane's heart.
"You think your Remnant Star Society can keep an eye on me? What you can see is only what I want you to see."
Seeing Scar rushing at him, Zane let out a sneer. He didn't dodge or avoid, instead he charged straight into the incoming cards, turning his body and driving his shoulder forward, raising his left hand and throwing a punch straight at Scar's burn-covered face.
And Scar clearly didn't expect Zane to be this crazy, willing to attack even at the cost of getting injured.
After all, he was aiming at the heart, the most vulnerable part of the human body.
Avoiding harm is instinct. Anyone would subconsciously dodge in that situation.
But Zane did the exact opposite and charged straight into the attack.
And this directly caused Scar's predicted attack position to deviate, avoiding the point where his attack would have had the most force.
If they got any closer, it might even have been his forearm hitting Zane instead of the card in his hand.
On top of that, the force chain of Scar's arm swing was interrupted by Zane's sudden charge, and in that rushed moment, it didn't form a complete power chain.
And Scar knew very well that even if he pierced the man in front of him through the heart, he wouldn't fall so easily. The Remnant Star Society's failure three years ago was proof of that.
So facing the aggressive Zane, Scar had no choice but to stomp his foot hard on the ground to stop his forward momentum, abandon this attack that might not even work but would definitely leave him unable to fight if his head got smashed, and instead pull back to create distance.
In battle, it all comes down to momentum. If your momentum is overwhelming, the opponent will hesitate; if your momentum falters, the opponent will press the attack.
Scar's reaction was exactly what Zane wanted. Using the inertia from his missed left punch, Zane decisively spun his body, the riot baton drawing a perfect circle in the air as it smashed toward Scar's head once again.
Compared to the previous swing, this time Zane had a longer distance to build up force, so the power was even greater.
And Scar didn't dare to use a short playing card to block it head-on at this moment. He could only sidestep to dodge Zane's attack, then quickly retreat to widen the distance between them.
Clearly, in close combat, Scar was being completely suppressed by Zane.
But would Zane be afraid once the distance widened?
A handgun suddenly appeared in Zane's hand.
"Eat shit, sir."
Seeing the pitch-black muzzle, Scar's heart skipped a beat.
Although he wouldn't be easily killed by bullets, don't forget, there was also Rover watching from the side like a tiger eyeing its prey.
Zane didn't know Rover had entered the illusion, but as the master of the illusion, how could Scar not know?
Seeing that black figure rushing toward him like a cannonball, Scar gritted his teeth in anger. For him, it was time to reveal his final trump card.
With the sound of a gunshot, a strange red barrier covered Scar. Scattered playing cards formed a massive tornado centered on him, blocking all the bullets Zane fired.
Seeing this, Zane curled his lips in disdain.
Why do all bosses need a second phase? And just from the fact that he gets invincible during transformation, he's already way stronger than Jeston.
Just as Zane was complaining about Scar turning into some kind of masked rider, a sword sheath smacked hard against his head.
'Ah… this familiar sword sheath, this familiar pain, this familiar suffocating feeling…'
For some reason, Zane could faintly feel the intense anger radiating from the person behind him.
"Um… Rover, why are you here…"
Seeing Zane's apologetic smile, Rover, who had rushed over, immediately got even angrier. She raised her hand and grabbed his collar, pulling him in front of her.
"That kind of fighting style of yours is too dangerous. Do you even realize that just now, if you slipped up even a little, you would've died!"
Rover's delicate brows were filled with anger. Even her usually gentle voice rose several degrees and carried a trace of fury.
"I don't want you to break your promise and then make me collect your corpse!"
As her raised, angry voice reached the end of the sentence, it lowered again, the final tone carrying a faint trace of sadness.
Whether it was just an illusion or not, looking at her beautiful face so close to his, Zane felt like he had experienced something like this before.
Seeing the sorrow she was trying to suppress in her eyes, Zane felt as if a hand was tightly gripping his heart.
At that moment, a roar that didn't sound human came from the center of the playing cards. Looking toward the source, a pitch-black monster over three meters tall tore through the cards and emerged.
The monster had a goat's head and a human body, with four eyes arranged on both sides of its head.
Its black, slender body contained explosive power as it leapt high into the air, then slammed down heavily in front of the two.
The tattered red clothes on its body looked soaked in blood, evil and eerie. In its hand, a bone blade over three meters long burned with purple flames.
Its appearance looked exactly like a demon from Western culture.
Seeing this, Zane subconsciously took out an item and handed it to her.
"Take this… it's my fault for messing around. I won't do it again." After saying that, he flashed forward and charged toward the massive bone blade.
Rover looked at the scarecrow-like item in her hand, confused for a moment and wanting to ask what it did, but with a powerful enemy in front of her, she could only put it away for now.
Even though Scar had turned into a monster, he was still not that legendary Black Goat demon.
Zane swung his baton to knock away the bone blade that Scar brought down toward him. Taking that opening, Rover's slender body leapt high, and her blade stabbed into Scar's head.
After landing a hit, how could she let such a chance go? A storm of attacks came pouring down in an instant. Then she stepped on Scar's head and used the force to pull her blade out.
As for Scar, his massive body actually staggered from the kick, his more than three-meter-tall frame uncontrollably tilting backward.
Rover used the recoil from pulling out the blade to leap high once again, like an angel descending from the sky to punish a demon. Her blade pierced into Scar's chest and stabbed down fiercely.
A deep wound instantly appeared on the pitch-black skin, and dark purple blood flowed continuously from the canyon-like gash.
In pain, Scar regained his senses and immediately raised his bone blade again. But compared to before, the purple flames burning on it were even more intense.
However, Rover showed no worry that Scar's attack would land on her, because this time, she was not fighting alone.
A missile, carrying the sound of tearing wind, struck Scar's right hand holding the bone blade.
FIM-92 anti-air missile, also known as the Stinger.
Scar hadn't expected that in front of Zane and Rover, he wouldn't even get a chance to counterattack. He could only let out a shrill roar, whether of anger or despair.
At that moment, Rover raised her right fist wrapped in refracted light, carrying endless force, and smashed it into the wound still flowing with purple blood.
A deafening explosion echoed through the illusion, lingering for a long time. Under this strike, Scar's more than three-meter-tall body was blasted backward, slamming hard against the edge of the illusion.
Then he slid down from the edge, and his body could no longer maintain the transformation, returning to human form.
Looking at the illusion around them gradually collapsing, Zane opened his mouth in shock.
"Wait, what? That's it? He's down already? That weak?"
From the moment Scar created the illusion, to Zane and Rover entering it, to defeating Scar and the illusion collapsing, the whole process didn't even take 30 seconds.
Not even enough time to cook instant noodles.
As if noticing Zane's shock, Rover first smiled proudly, then her expression turned serious as she walked up to him, staring straight into his eyes and speaking word by word, "If next time you still don't value your life, then I will never forgive you for the rest of my life!"
As her words fell, the illusion completely dissipated.
Outside the illusion, Sanhua immediately stepped forward to take Scar into custody.
"Rover." Scar, his hands bound, raised his head. A smile appeared on his face again, though this time it was somewhat forced. "This failure is my gift to you, a way to show my sincerity."
As expected of Scar, still talking tough even now.
"However, the revival of Ovathrax is close at hand. Jinzhou is already besieged inside and out. Even if you win this round, what does it matter?"
"No need for you to worry about that." Zane waved his hand impatiently and stepped forward, standing between him and Rover.
Noticing Zane's small action, Rover not only didn't feel dissatisfied, but instead smiled softly, as if she quite enjoyed this feeling.
It was just a pity that Sister Jinhsi still seemed to have questions for him. Otherwise, Zane could've turned him into 7 Star Sounds on the spot.
Just not sure whether his playing cards could be exchanged for Star Sounds.