BAM! Arad jumped forward, swinging his quarterstaff at the queen’s face. She lifted two of her tentacles, blocking the attack.

Thwack! Arad immediately lifted his foot, kicking her in the face. Fire Kick

She flew back, landing on her tentacles, “Kicking my face?” She waved her hand, and the mud beneath Arad’s feet formed into spikes, rushing at his chest.

Barrier

CLANG! The spikes bounced off the barrier, and Arad lunged forward, swinging his palm down.

The queen dodged Arad’s slap. She’s weary of those. Even if she could get hit with the staff or a kick, allowing those slaps to get in is the only thing she won’t let slip through her guard.

SWOSH! SWOSH! SWOSH! Arad waved at the staff, swinging at her chest, arms, and legs, but she dodged the attacks, dropping one of her tentacles at his head.

BAM! He blocked the staff, sending a kick at her.

“I won’t fall for the same move!” She dodged, grabbing his foot with her tentacle and swinging him up and back to the ground.

“Now you drown,” She giggled but lost the smile faster than she made it. Arad landed with his hand on a barrier he created, swinging both of his legs at her face and chest, getting a solid three hits in.

As she took the hits, she swung a kick at his face as well, sending him flying back.

^He’s getting faster? No, his moves are slowly losing all unessessary movements. He’s getting used to his weaker body by the second.^

Tap! Arad landed on a barrier and lunged forward with a burst of flame beneath his feet.

The queen took a deep breath. ^We’re closely matched, but I have more limbs. As long as I don’t get hit with a slap, he’s the one to fall first.^

VA-VAFF! She spun her tentacles, sending eight consecutive strikes toward Arad in the blink of an eye.

Arad created a small barrier on the ground and used his quarterstaff and a burst of flame to jump into the sky, evading all of the attacks.

Mid-air, he threw his staff up and reached with his hands. Taking his boots off with one move. “They’re getting in the way, but I might need them later,”

With one motion, he threw the boots back toward the stairs and fell toward the queen, his quarterstaff falling behind him.

The queen stared at his bare feet for a second. ^Don’t tell me he can…^

She moved back, “Kids! Get him!” Several octopuses rushed forward, swinging their tentacles at Arad.

TAP! He landed on one of them, smacking two with his staff, kicking two, and slapping the one beneath him. 𝘳𝑎.𝒸ℴ

^I totally thought he would be able to use those slaps with his feet, but am I wrong?^ She stared at Arad’s eyes, ^No, he’s baiting me. He certainly can slap with his feet.^

SPLAT! More octopuses emerged from the mud, rushing toward Arad to overpower him with numbers.

SWOSH! Arad stepped sideways, extending one foot forward, and with his arms twisted one up and one down. His head tilted back to avoid a tentacle as he delivered two slaps.

As his quarterstaff approached the ground, he pulled his body back with his foot and grabbed it, lunging toward the queen immediately.

^This man is a monster,^ The queen thought, ^Why are you so hard to deal with even without your power?^

Merlin who watched from the back smiled, ^His moves are clunky and ungraceful, but those pertinently belong to Dalla. He’s both weaker and slower than the queen, she can rush him with sheer strength and hit him with a stab to the torso, but she would get slapped, more than once. That would kill both of them.^

^His hands and feet are the weapons keeping the queen at bay and what he intends to kill her with,^ she saw Arad catch the quarterstaff and block two tentacles’ attacks.

^He uses the quarterstaff to magnify his power with leverage when he needs it. Never forget that he’s he could use fire with all of his limbs, the queen must remain wary of the flame. And there is the trump card in his stomach, that knife.^

“He’s impressive!” Amber said as she mowed down the octopuses with fire, “Is he a monk? I never saw one fight like that,”

“He isn’t,” Merlin replied, “Those moves are a janky mixture between Alcott’s moves, Dalla’s slaps, Nina’s aggressive nature, my gravity magic, whoever he got the barrier from, and your fire magic.” She smiled, “And look closely,”

Amber stared at Arad’s hands and legs, “Wait, why is he swinging like that?”

“He’s already trying to move his limbs like the octopuses’ tentacles, albeit his bones are getting in the way.” Merlin said with sweat dripping across her face, “He’s a copycat, but a genius one.”

Arad approached the queen in the blink of an eye but she jumped back. He bent down, scoping mud with his hand and splashing it at her face.

“What’s your game?” The queen growled as she swatted the mud away with her tentacles, seeing him rush after the mud, holding the quarterstaff like a greatsword in a wrath stance.

She dodged the downward swing, “What are you trying to do?”

Arad immediately switched his grip and thrust with the quarterstaff like a spear three times at the queen’s face. She dodged and dived into the mud, appearing several meters away.

^Jack, Lydia, and Eris, he isn’t letting anything he saw go to waste.^ Merlin couldn’t hold back her smile.

“Risk nothing get nothing,” The queen stared at him as she dove again under the mud.

Arad was standing on his barrier so he couldn’t feel the tremors of her swinging underground.

SPLT! Arad turned the moment he heard something pop behind him and swung a slap. It connected, but the one there was an ordinary octopus, a pawn.

At that moment, the queen emerged behind Arad. She latched into his neck with her thighs and used her arms and four tentacles to hold Arad’s arms in place. Her other four tentacles held his legs in place.

“Hahaha! I got you,” She glared at his face.

“GAHHH!” Arad opened his mouth wide open, taking a bite off her thigh.

“AWWWWWWW!” She screamed, but that only agitated Arad more, causing him to start chomping her flesh like a wild dog.

“You like me that much?” She growled in pain, “I’m an octopus, remember? And I love you as well.”

SPLASH! A burst of black ink squirted from her vagina as she transformed back into her half-octopus form, blinding him for a split second.

At that moment, Arad found himself facing the one beak all the octopuses had, biting right through his shoulder and chest.

“ARAD!” Merlin screamed as the queen dragged Arad with her into the mud.

Updated from 𝑖𝘦.𝒸𝘰𝘮