The fire raged across the beach, the Terror Crab screaming in pain. Worse, the ground had been lined with fire slime tar long before they'd arrived. It stuck to his shell, impossible to scrape off, the fire burning hotter and hotter, eating through the shell.
Lirael let out a breath of relief. That had worked. That forbidden magic scroll Mephis the Demon Lord had given him before the tournament? It was way stronger than Rank 3. The real power of that strike? It was Rank 4 mid.
Even a Rank 5 beast couldn't just walk that off. The crab was tough, sure, but even he couldn't ignore a hit like that. The fire cut off Finn's connection to his follower, the soul-destroying curse from the demon lord's magic blocking the link.
The crab's head cleared a little, the alcohol wearing off just enough for him to realize what was happening. He'd been hurt. By these tiny, weak little ants. He roared, forgetting all about running, forgetting all about Finn's commands. He was going to kill them all.
Finn watched from his box, his eyes bloodshot. What the hell was wrong with his crab? Why couldn't he connect to it? What kind of magic was that?
The examiner in the monitoring spire frowned, turning to Valerius. "Wait. That magic. That's way over the limit. That's Rank 4 power. That's not something a Rank 3 god's followers should have. Is he cheating?"
Valerius just shook his head, smiling. "No. That's just… what they can do. Honestly? If I hadn't held them back, none of the other contestants would stand a chance against them."
The examiner stared, blinking. What?
Valerius didn't explain. He just went back to watching the screen.
The crab was already wounded, and the magic had hit his soul hard. That forced evolution had given him a strong body, but his soul was weak, fragile. The demon lord's soul-destroying magic had hit him right where it hurt.
Gromm and Lirael locked eyes, then nodded. They chanted a spell, and ice exploded across the crab's shell, freezing it solid. The sudden cold, after the fire, made the shell crack. Tiny fissures spread across the hard gemstone armor.
The crab was panicking now. He needed water. He needed to cool down. But the only river nearby was the one they'd marinated. He couldn't go back there.
Before he could run, Korg stepped forward. He slammed his fist into the cracked shell.
The whole shell exploded. The crab let out a final, tiny squeak, then went still. Dead.
To the very end, he couldn't believe it. He was Rank 5. He was invincible. How had these tiny Rank 3 ants killed him?
The whole underground fortress erupted into cheers. They'd done it. They'd gotten the crab. No one had even gotten a scratch.
They didn't waste any time. They chopped off the legs, the claws, the body, hauled it all back to the fortress, ready to cook. They'd been waiting for this feast for months.
Finn Marrick sat in his viewing box, staring at the screen. His crab was dead. His last follower was dead. He was eliminated.
He couldn't believe it. He jumped up, screaming, running out of the box, straight to the monitoring spire. "I want to report cheating! That guy! Laia Hayes! He used Rank 4 magic! He broke the rules! There's no way a Rank 3 god's followers could do that! There's a black market! I demand a investigation!"
The examiners stared, then Valerius stepped forward, his voice cold. "I reviewed the match. There was no cheating. His followers are perfectly within the rules."
Finn froze. He recognized that voice. That was Headmaster Valerius. The God-King. The most powerful man in the entire empire. He couldn't argue with him. If he did, his whole family would be destroyed.
He went pale, his head dropping. He said nothing, just turned and walked away. Eliminated. His whole gamble, his whole plan, gone. Just because he'd tried to steal the moles' dinner.
In the monitoring spire, Valerius shook his head, smiling. He looked at the map of the continent. It was covered in holes, in craters, in empty fields. The moles had eaten through half the continent already, like a plague of locusts. Nothing left.
He sighed. He'd been wondering what would happen if Laia brought her other followers, the 12 Overlords, into the tournament. But no. If he did that, they'd eat the entire god realm in a week. There'd be nothing left. Just an empty plate.
Better to just let these three have their fun.
An hour later, Lex Thorne's scout team arrived at the beach. They'd heard the noise, the explosions, and they'd come to see what was going on.
What they found made their blood run cold.
There was nothing left. No crab. No bodies. Just a few broken pieces of shell, and some still-smoldering fire.
The giant crab. The Rank 5 beast that even Lex had been afraid of, that everyone had been hiding from. It was gone. Wiped out. And the moles had done it. And they hadn't even lost a single man. There was no blood, no bodies, nothing.
The scout captain stared, his mouth hanging open. He couldn't believe it.
The moles. They'd taken down the crab. The invincible crab. In ten minutes. Without a single casualty.
He turned to his men, his voice shaking. "Let's go. Report this to the boss. This… this is way above our pay grade."
They turned and ran, the shock ringing in their ears. They all knew what this meant. If the moles could take down the crab, then they could take down anyone. Lex's alliance was already falling apart. Now, when everyone found out that the moles had beaten the crab? The whole thing would collapse. Everyone would run. No one wanted to fight the guys who could kill a Rank 5 beast just to eat it.
In her private viewing box, Laia Hayes stared at the screen, watching Finn being escorted out of the spire, and groaned.
She'd been worried, at first. Worried that her followers would get hurt fighting the crab. Worried that they'd lose.
And then, ten minutes later, they'd killed it. They'd marinated it, they'd gotten it drunk, they'd beaten it to death. And now Finn was eliminated.
"Are you kidding me?" She moaned, slumping back in her chair. "I told you guys to lay low! I told you to not make trouble! And now you eliminated Finn! Now everyone's gonna be scared of me! Now they're all gonna come after me! I just wanted to open a sandwich shop! Why does everything have to turn into a giant crab murder party?!"
She buried her face in her hands, groaning. She really should have stopped them. She really should have told them not to eat the crab. But no. They'd been so excited. She hadn't had the heart to say no.
Now look what happened.
In the underground fortress, the three clan leaders were already setting up the pots. Half the crab was going into the steamer, half into the spicy hot pot. They'd pulled out all the spices, all the wine, all the garlic, everything they'd stolen from the other factions.
The whole fortress smelled like crab. Everyone was cheering, laughing, waiting for the feast.
Korg slapped Gromm on the back, grinning. "Told you we'd get it. Man, this is gonna be the best meal we've had in months."
Lirael nodded, stirring the pot. "Yeah. Too bad Finn had to go and ruin it by trying to stop us. Oh well. His loss. More crab for us."
None of them even cared that they'd eliminated a god. None of them cared that they'd broken the whole tournament. They just cared that they had food. That they had a feast.
That was all that mattered.