After killing one of his toughest opponents, Moon didn’t hesitate to store the body in his storage ring.

A five-star Evolver working for the dark organization might have carried real intel on him. Anything that could feed his investigation about the group later.

The lives from the kill had been lower than expected, though. In fact, it was much lower.

At this moment for Moon, only one theory made sense.

’Before coming here, they must’ve given their lives to their leader.’

It made sense, the fanatical obedience from earlier, the willingness to die for their cause, not hesitating to fly toward their enemies with bombs strapped to their bodies.

Skimming a fighter’s life pool before the mission would reduce the benefits the enemy walked away with once the fighter fell.

’They’re farming lives in reverse too. Bleeding their own troops upstream, so anyone who kills them collects less. Interesting.’

The battle continued across the arena, and outside it.

Alaric and Ace were still locked in the middle. Both were finding their match. Alaric’s golden swords gracefully moved through the air in attacking and defensive formations, and Ace’s dagger answered every angle without fail.

Neither one was gaining ground.

Moon watched with growing unease.

’I don’t like how this is going. I need to speed things up, Ace looks too relaxed, they aren’t being pushed enough, despite losing their chance to kill an Ascender earlier.’

His gaze moved back to his four puppets. They were all on the verge of death, their bodies were torn open across the shoulders and ribs.

One of them was down to a single arm. Another had a spear wound punched clean through his side. And yet, they were still swinging, and holding position, because Moon’s order held them there.

During his fight with the wiry man, Moon changed their goal to keeping the eight Evolvers at bay. Their job had been to keep eight enemy Evolvers pinned away from the leader Moon had just killed, no matter the cost. Now that the job had been completed.

Now they had one job left.

Moon’s left hand began to glow purple. His staff appeared in his right hand.

’Grab them... take the hits and don’t let go.’

Moon’s order traveled through the Curse threads. The four puppets responded at once. They abandoned their defense entirely and closed on their opponents in reckless, committed lunges.

The eight enemy Evolvers reacted instinctively, running their weapons through the puppets’ bodies to stop the charges cold.

Blades punched through chests and stomachs. Two of the puppets took strikes that were fatal.

The tallest puppet, the one with the scar running from his ear to his collar, wrapped both arms around the swordsman who had just impaled him and locked his hands together behind the man’s back. The others followed the same move. Each puppet trapped an enemy in a bear hug that wouldn’t break no matter how much the enemy struggled.

Instantly, four pairs of bodies locked together.

The other four enemy Evolvers on the far side of the group raised their weapons in confusion.

"What are you doing?! Let go of them!"

"Hurry up! Drop him!"

"They’re not budging, it’s like they are glued to us!"

Moon raised his staff.

Water surged out of the crystal at the tip, a rolling wave that spread across the clearing in a wide arc toward the locked pairs.

The four unengaged enemies threw themselves forward, trying to reach their comrades.

"Break their grip!"

Their attacks slammed into the puppets’ backs. Blades tore through armor. Spears punched through spines. And yet, the puppets held on.

Their bodies were already dying. Pain wasn’t a factor anymore. Only the Moon’s order mattered, and the order was clear.

’Do not let go.’

Moon raised his left hand.

Purple lightning arced from his palm into the water and immediately, the wave lit up in purple.

Seeing the purple wave approaching, just meters shy away from their bodies, the Evolver’s heart sank.

At that moment, it was evident, Moon had used their own tactics against them. He had used their comrades as sacrificial lambs to kill them.

The wave of purple water struck the eight Evolvers. The puppets died instantly, their injuries too severe. As for the other Evolvers, their screams came out haggard.

Their bodies spasmed, and the water crushed the air out of their lungs. Lightning tore through their entire bodies as their eyes rolled back and their limbs went limp.

Eight notifications flashed across Moon’s eyes.

[You have gained 3,520 Lives]

[You have gained 2,560 Lives]

[You have gained 3,110 Lives]

[You have gained 2,890 Lives]

...

The notifications continued flashing.

The puppets’ kills came back to him. Their existence as Cursed extensions of his own will didn’t mean that he couldn’t get any lives from killing them.

Moon had gained nearly twenty-three thousand lives in a single wave, without having to expose himself to a single blade of his enemies.

The eight bodies collapsed together into the wet rubble.

Moon’s gaze moved to the four surviving enemies just a few meters away from where he had slaughtered their team members.

Before he could move, Kael was already on them, hurling a massive fireball of azure fire toward them.

His remaining puppet, the twin-axe warrior, was also moving in from the flank. The two of them rushed into the disoriented members.

Moon joined them.

His lightning caught the first survivor across the back of the neck. Kael’s fire took the second and third. The twin-axe warrior brought both axes down on the fourth’s guard and shattered it in a single crushing swing.

The fourth managed to survive the attack. Without fighting back, he tried to flee to get help from other members.

The fourth didn’t get far. Moon sent a bolt of lightning that caught him in the back.Four more notifications flashed before Moon’s eyes.

Kael stood in the middle of the bodies, staff lowered, his eyes moving between the corpses and Moon.

He didn’t say anything.