CHAPTER 179: KILL THEM ALL, THERE IS NO MERCY

To leave the [Tower of Fate] alive, the awakeners only had to survive for sixty seconds.

That was all the clear condition of the [Third Stage] demanded.

It sounded simple on the surface, but after Zarion fell to Sam’s hand, nothing about it felt simple anymore.

The moment Zarion’s body dropped, the timer began.

All the other awakeners who still stood in the chamber immediately realized that they weren’t celebrating a victory.

They were staring at death with cautious eyes, and they knew it.

The Third Stage had ended, but the real threat had only just begun.

Because now, they knew the truth.

The Primordial was not some distant, unknowable existence hiding behind a mask of legend.

He was a human.

They had seen his face.

The moment even a single one of them managed to return to the real world, it would spread.

Sam’s identity would be exposed, and every realm would turn on him.

Of course, Sam understood this perfectly well.

But he no longer cared.

’They tried to kill me... it’s only fair I return the favor,’ he thought with a grin tugging at his lips.

"FOCUS ON SURVIVING!" a female celestial shouted, her voice sharp and commanding.

Sam’s eyes shifted to her.

She was the most dangerous one among them, so she was the first he wanted to understand.

With a thought, he opened her status window.

[Name: Felicia Garden][Rank: Immortal][Level: 2][Class: ???][Skills: Green Fire Spear, Fire Surge, Halo of Fire...][Hell-Mode Analysis: =)]

"Haha..." Felicia laughed, her expression twisted somewhere between admiration and dread.

"I see now. You really are something else."

"=)" Sam only smiled in response.

"Your aura, your powers... even the way you act," Felicia continued, her tone rising, "they all belong to a monster."

"=)"

"And that smile..." a shiver crept down her spine as she spoke, "that’s the worst part of it."

Her voice wavered for just a moment before she gathered herself again.

"No matter. Once the other celestials learn who you are, you’ll be dead."

Sam tilted his head slightly, his smile widening.

"Who said you’ll be leaving this place alive? Do you really think you can escape?"

Fwish!

BOOM!

The air shook as the other dragon, still in his full draconic form, lunged at Sam from behind.

Its massive jaw snapped around him, biting down hard.

-1! -1!

The numbers appeared as Sam’s [Primordial Barrier] absorbed the blows, sparks of raw energy sparking across its surface.

But Sam didn’t flinch.

He didn’t even blink.

"Good job!" Felicia shouted with relief, her green fire flaring brighter.

"If we can just hold him until the timer runs out, we’ll survive this! And if we manage to kill him..."

Her voice carried hope, but it was misplaced.

Because even as the dragon’s fangs bore down on his barrier, Sam’s expression never shifted.

He looked utterly calm.

And then—

PRIMORDIAL CLONE!

His aura surged violently, and a perfect clone of himself manifested beside the dragon.

The smile carved into its face was identical to Sam’s, eerie and unchanging.

’Kill everything,’ Sam commanded without words.

The clone’s aura exploded outward, its smile stretching unnaturally wide.

Without hesitation, it leapt high into the air, sword gleaming in its hand.

"WATCH OUT!" one of the two angels shouted as he dashed forward, golden blade flashing.

But it was futile.

SLASH!

The clone’s strike was swift and merciless.

The dragon’s head was severed clean in a single blow, dropping heavily to the ground.

Blood and energy scattered, and the body fell limp.

Sam stepped out unscathed, the dragon’s jaw falling uselessly away.

His smile was still there, directed now at Felicia.

"Haha..." Felicia backed up instinctively, her eyes wide.

"Of course..."

[30 seconds remaining.]

Half the time was gone.

Only thirty seconds separated Sam’s identity from being exposed to every corner of the realms.

Felicia’s expression hardened.

"Don’t fight!" she commanded the two angels.

"Focus on running!"

It was the correct call.

Even she understood that facing the primordial head-on was suicide.

But before they could take a single step—

GAZE OF THE PRIMORDIAL!

The clone’s eyes locked onto them, releasing the same overwhelming force Sam himself had used against Zarion.

The angels made their fatal mistake.

They looked back.

Ding!

[Your soul has been hit with "Doom"]

Their bodies froze instantly.

They didn’t even have time to breathe, let alone resist, before the clone closed the gap.

Two swift motions.

Two clean strikes.

And both angels collapsed, lifeless.

"=)"

The clone’s eyes turned back toward Felicia, and she stumbled back again.

"Monster!" she roared, summoning the [Green Fire Spear] into her hands.

Her aura flared wildly, fire swirling around her as she faced him down.

"I knew it. A scum like you doesn’t care about anyone or anything!"

Sam tilted his head.

"You’re the one who tried to kill me," he replied evenly.

"I don’t kill without reason."

Felicia faltered.

Because he was right.

Sam hadn’t lifted a hand against them until they struck first.

If they had left him alone, none of this would have happened.

But her pride would not let her admit it.

"But no matter what!" Felicia roared, voice cracking with desperation.

"I’LL SURVIVE THIS!"

GREEN WINGS!

FIRE BOOST!

Her body ignited with a storm of emerald flame.

Wings of pure fire spread wide, and her form blurred as she rocketed into motion.

The sound was deafening, the shockwaves thunderous.

She shot around the chamber at a speed that made her almost impossible to track.

’I can’t see her!’ Belle’s eyes widened as she watched.

’She might actually escape...’

Her heart twisted with confusion.

Because despite everything, despite knowing that Sam was killing them one by one, a strange part of her didn’t want Felicia to succeed.

She wanted Sam to catch her.

She wanted him to kill her too.

And then...

’I know his identity as well,’ Belle thought, looking down at her own trembling hands.

’That means... haha... I won’t live either way.’

Reality was not kind.

The legends of the primordials had always been clear.

Mercy was not in their nature.

"Oh well," she muttered, forcing a smile.

She simply stood and watched.

If this was her fate, so be it.

[20 seconds.]

Sam’s eyes narrowed, tracking Felicia’s movements.

Even with his heightened senses, her speed was overwhelming.

The green fire wings and boosts gave her incredible acceleration.

But Sam’s grin widened.

He glanced at his clone.

’Let’s end this.’

He could not allow her to leave.

Not a celestial.

Not someone who would reveal his identity to the rest.

Humans already hated him.

The other races loathed him as well.

And the celestials, more than any, carried an ancient grudge against the primordials.

Why?

What had the primordials done to the celestials, to all the realms?

Sam didn’t know.

But he knew this—whatever it was, the primordials had been slaughtered for it.

And if Felicia escaped, he might meet the same end.

[15 seconds.]

He nodded once to his clone.

Together, they raised their primordial swords.

Felicia’s voice echoed through the chamber as she blurred past again.

"You can’t catch me! It’s over for you!"

Sam smiled.

"Sure =)"

TENDRILS OF OBLIVION!

Dark power erupted from his blade.

Dozens of writhing tendrils exploded outward, spreading across the chamber like roots clawing for every inch of space.

"Idiot!" Felicia shouted, laughing as she darted past them.

"I can run forever!"

But then—

PRIMORDIAL TENDRIL!

From the very tip of Sam’s sword, a massive tendril shot out like a serpent, faster and heavier than the rest.

It whipped through the chamber with frightening precision.

Fwish!

SLAM!

"Huh—"

The tendril coiled tightly around Felicia’s body, halting her mid-flight.

Her green fire blazed hotter, already burning through the binding.

She was moments away from breaking free.

But that single second was all Sam needed.

He and his clone closed in from both sides, swords raised high.

Felicia’s eyes widened as she saw only their dark silhouettes, their auras swallowing their forms, their glowing eyes fixed on her.

"Haha..." she whispered, bitter laughter in her voice.

"This realm is truly doomed—"

SLASH!

SLASH!

Two blades cut through at once.

Her head fell.

Felicia Garden’s body collapsed in silence.

Sam’s gaze shifted immediately, his aura still blazing in his eyes, as he turned toward Belle.