“Fuuu,” Samael exhaled weakly after eliminating two more opponents.
With that, only three more remained.
Reiner Tovak, the commoner faction leader.
Erwin Holt, the sharpshooter.
And Sylen Mordane, the strategist.
Ironically, despite the noble faction claiming that Samael only had the title of Ace because he never faced them, they were the first ones to be eliminated.
Right now, only the commoners remained standing.
Medics and faculty members rushed in, whisking away the fallen Cadets in an instant to begin their treatments.
Samael straightened up, feeling the burning pain in his forearm and palms from the wounds inflicted by Calem’s sword. Those wounds would continue to burn until fully healed because of his power.
His left calf had a deep gash, so he couldn’t put all his weight on that leg.
Moreover, he was bleeding profusely from several places like the gaping stab wounds on his forearm and shoulder or the deep hashes on his back and calf, and his chest ached with every breath he took.
…But it was still less damage than he expected.
Thwaaam—!!
The arena suddenly trembled as if hit by an earthquake.
Samael looked up and saw Reiner obliterating the concrete jungle he had constructed.
The towering spikes, pillars, and obelisks that he erected to provide cover and isolate his enemies were all reduced to rubble by countless monstrous sweeps of Reiner’s massive tentacles.
Dust choked the air.
Samael tensed a little. He had used the terrain to keep Reiner at bay, rendering him unable to use his tentacles effectively by trapping him in that clustered concrete jungle.
The rocky protrusions also obstructed Erwin’s line of sight.
But now, with the battlefield mostly flattened, his advantage had ended.
And Reiner wasted no time capitalizing on that. Two tentacles lashed toward the golden-haired Ace from opposite angles.
Samael twisted away and dodged the first one — only for the second one to come barreling into his side with bone-crushing force.
A sharp crack echoed through his body.
Pain exploded across his ribs as he was hurled backward, crashing into a half-toppled pillar behind him.
The impact sent another wave of agony through him, and before he could catch his breath, the thick, sinewy appendage pressed him against the pillar, pinning him in place.
Samael coughed a mouthful of blood, feeling as if he was run over by a car. He took a shaky breath and conjured a flame arrow in his grasp.
With a sharp inhale, he hurled it at the tentacle constricting him. The arrow struck true, detonating on impact with a deafening blast.
Flesh sizzled and the smell of burnt sinew filled the air as the tentacle recoiled with a violent spasm.
Freed, Samael staggered forward, but before he could properly regain his footing—
—Baaang!
A bullet tore through his left calf.
His leg buckled, and he barely caught himself on one knee before gritting his teeth to stifle a pained hiss.
Erwin.
That damn sharpshooter had been waiting for even the slightest opening. And when he found one, when even the slightest area of Samael’s body got out of the cover, he shot him.
Samael sighed, as if he was almost bored instead of concerned, then forced himself to move, launching into a sharp roll as more tentacles came raining down where he had just been.
He dove behind a half-broken concrete log, and not even a second later—
—Thwoom!
The log exploded into fragments as Reiner’s tentacles smashed through it, sending debris flying in all directions.
…But when the log fell, Samael was nowhere to be seen. He wasn’t behind it. He was already gone.
Reiner frowned. His eyes darted around for a second before finally spotting a deep hole in the ground.
His heart pounded as realization dawned. The memory of how Samael had eliminated that healer girl, Liora, replayed in his mind.
He immediately understood what happened.
Using his innate power, Samael had gone underground. Again.
Reiner went on high alert and felt the ground beneath him rumble violently
Reiner realized what Samael’s plan was.
Since he was strictly a mid-range fighter, Reiner had a few weaknesses like any Awakened — one of them being extreme close-quarter combat.
His tentacles, monstrous as they were, were too long to react properly if an enemy got within arm’s reach.
A swordsman pressing in could render them useless, just like how a spear was near-impossible to swing if the opponent was already inside your guard.
Which meant, Samael wanted to get close and personal with Reiner. He was going to come out of the ground from right under Reiner.
It was already too late to summon a Card, so Reiner decided to fall back to safety instead.
The tentacles on his back dug into the ground far behind him and lifted him off in the air to move him, like an octopus walking on land.
But the moment his feet left the ground, the very earth below him erupted.
Not one, not five, but a dozen jagged spikes shot up like the fangs of some ravenous beast.
Reiner only had the time to widen his eyes before one of the spikes punched clean through his left-hand tentacle, pinning it in place like a writhing insect on a needle.
Two more impaled his right tentacle, spearing straight through the sinewy flesh.
A fourth spike hurtled toward his lower torso.
Instinct took over and one of the tentacles on his back shot forward on its own, curling around him to shield his body. It took the hit instead, and the stone spike stabbed it with a sickening crunch.
Reiner stifled an agonized scream.
Only one of his tentacles remained free. The rest of them were now skewered like squid meat on a barbecue stick, thrashing uselessly as he dangled helplessly in the air.
And that was when the earth split opened right in front of his eyes.
Samael burst out with a fire arrow in hand, his golden hair matted with dust and sweat. His eyes burned with something dangerously close to amusement.
It was then that Reiner realized the truth.
Samael had never intended to attack from directly beneath him. He only made him think that. The real trap had been laid the moment Reiner jumped back.
Why?
Because in mid-air, with two of his tentacles occupied moving him, Reiner couldn’t retaliate fast enough when the spikes impaled his limbs one after another.
Samael had ensured that by the time it was over, Reiner would be left hanging—skewered, helpless, and unable to fight back.
If he were on the ground, he could have at least dismissed his Origin Card and retreated to recover.
But if he tried to undo his partial transformation now, he would only fall down and be defenseless against any follow-up attack Samael might throw his way.
From the start, this hadn’t been an attack. It had been a checkmate.
Even as he realized that, it was too late.
Reiner could only wrench his one free tentacle forward in a desperate attempt to block the incoming fiery projectile.
—Booom!
The Flame Arrow struck true.
A deafening explosion ripped through the air, heat washing over Reiner in a scorching wave.
The blast tore through his tentacle, reducing chunks of it to blackened, smoldering stumps. Bits of charred flesh and burned sinew rained down like grisly confetti.
“Aghhhhh!” Reiner couldn’t hold his scream anymore. The sound that clawed out of his throat was raw, guttural, more animal than human.
And that was all he could do when another fire arrow connected with his chest, detonating upon impact.
—Booom!
Then another.
—Booom!
The world blurred into pain.
Smoke rose from his body as his Origin Card disintegrated into light particles that were absorbed by his body, returning to his soul.
The last of his tentacles retreated, shrinking back into his flesh.
Two of them reformed into his arms — scorched, trembling, and barely functional — just as his battered body plummeted back to the ground.
He hit the dirt in a heap, limbs limp, eyes rolling back.
Unconscious. Burned. Defeated.
The leader of the commoner faction had fallen.