Kartikeya examined the injuries on his body and couldn't help but frown. The damage is more than he could think of. If Sam has directly used a poison attack with his element, he might have thought of something else. But Sam is too clever and used a weapon with that attribute and the poison is not acting fast.
It is acting too slow in fact for him to think of any countermeasure in between the battle. After all, in the battle, his main concern was always the most immediate threat and Sam happened to be that. No matter how injured Sam was he maintained that threat and didn't give Kartikeya any chance to think of any other thing.
And from the final attack, he might have been able to use a large ripple to avoid the explosion, but he still inhaled some smoke and now he could feel his body going numb. His odds in the next battle reduced by a lot. Sam would come at him in the form of a king with a full health bar.
