Ethan wasn't stupid, he realized that the Angels were vastly superior to the humans in every way. After all, they were of different races, and humans were weaker. At least for now.
So, Ethan was willing to spend everything he had, but to kill Zariel, or the first Angel on his bloody path. He didn't know what he would get for it, or how many points he could earn during the Fourth Trial, none of that mattered.
"If I can keep looking at this beautiful scene, there's a lot to sacrifice for it..." Ethan uttered, rising from the ground and staring at Zariel wriggling in pain.
"ARGHHHHHH!!!" YOU BASTARD!!! I WILL KILL YOU!!!!" Zariel exclaimed furiously, trying to put out the flames by any means available.
Every moment was equal to hellish torture for him and no one could resist such pain as well as no dignity.
Angel, the supreme being who should have always looked down on others, was now lying on the ground, covering himself with dust and dirt to calm the flames.
Zariel's painful scream spread far beyond the academy, and besides the humans, it was heard by the nearest Angels who were overseeing their areas.
Obviously, this was the worst humiliation for them.
"Hahaha, look at his face!" A man in a military outfit exclaimed, with an evil grin, "I don't know who did this, but it looks like a real monster was hiding in this academy! Shit! I'm loving this whole thing!"
Ethan, watching Zariel roll around on the ground in agony, couldn't contain his emotions as well as a devious smirk. After a few Trials, he finally got to the first Angel, his first victim.
'Agh... Too bad this isn't over yet.' Ethan thought, looking at the slowly rising Zariel from the ground, 'Well, I wasn't counting on such an amazing result anyway. It's enough for now.'
"Kha... Kha... Kha..." Zariel breathed heavily, intermittently, gradually coming to his senses. Most of his body was covered in burns, the edges of his wings were scorched, and smoke was constantly emanating from his body.
An ordinary person, even in a special protective suit, would have been turned to ashes in just a few seconds as this was an unusual flame. In the end, Ethan sacrificed his eye for this with a large amount of blood.
"You just condemned yourself to eternal suffering..." Zariel growled, slowly stepping forward.
"Really?" Ethan said calmly, "In that case, show me what you are capable of. So far you are the weakest I have fought."
Those words raised a new wave of rage in Zariel. It was obviously a trivial provocation on Ethan's part, but Zariel was in no state to think rationally.
Whoooooooosh.
Despite the pain from the burns, Zariel rushed forward, quickly reaching Ethan, who was ready to attack.
"Agh... You don't have any more trump cards, so, this is the end for you!!!" Zariel exclaimed, unleashing a punch at Ethan.
Ethan ducked, passing the blow over himself, then he took a step forward and brought his fist down on Zariel's solar plexus with all his might.
Zariel's eyes went wide with pain, and Ethan prepared to attack again. But, no sooner had he got ready than Zariel's foot plunged into his stomach, throwing him several meters aside.
A stream of blood gushed from Ethan's mouth, but he recovered quickly, getting to his feet with confidence.
"Shit... You had me fooled, didn't you?" Zariel stared intently at Ethan.
"Hmm?" Ethan raised an eyebrow, "Clarify exactly which moment you're talking about. There have been so many I've lost count."
Zariel frowned, "You ate a Paradise Apple, but you still fought like a real wimp. Damn! I should've known you were purposely throwing punches!"
Ethan didn't answer anything, he carefully surveyed the battlefield thinking about how to bring himself to victory.
The number of points each of them had earned was already insane, but in mortal combat, it didn't matter.
Then, he abruptly rushed forward, keeping close to the columns.
Zariel fell silent, quickly catching up with Ethan and getting in front of him.
'Fine, you've found your end right now.' Ethan muttered internally, crossing his arms in front of him and blocking Zariel's expected punch to the chest.
Ethan didn't attack back like last time, instead, he lowered himself to the ground and with a precise sweep of his arm, threw dust into Zariel's eyes.
Zariel reacted too late he didn't have time to flap his wings, so for a short period he was immobilized.
When Zariel cleared his eyes, he was surprised as Ethan didn't attack him, instead, Ethan ran as far away from Zariel as possible.
'What...? What is that?' Alisa, who was watching the fight inwardly muttered, staring at the white blank card clutched between Ethan's fingers.
The Blank Card could turn into any object Ethan was familiar with and was no larger than the size of a palm. In fact, Ethan had decided what he was going to do with that card the moment he saw it.
Whoooooooosh.
The Blank Card flashed brightly, shattering into white particles that were replaced by a grenade in his hand.
Ethan, without hesitation, pulled the pin from the grenade, and with all his might threw it straight at Zariel.
Zariel stared at the grenade as if it were something he had never seen before in his life. Only in the last seconds, he realized what he had to do, and his wings flapped in front of him.
Boooooooooom!
Deafening explosion echoed throughout the area, raising a massive cloud of dust.
A silhouette with two broad wings was gradually revealed, as a random stream of wind completely showed Zariel.
Part of his body was bleeding, with multiple tearing wounds and severe burns from the explosion and scarlet flames. Not even an Angel, a supreme being, could withstand such a thing.
Crackle.
Zariel, with eyes wide open, fell to his knees, unable to stand any longer. He was still alive, but even taking a step was impossible for him.
"Fine... Finish this... Kill me..." Zariel sincerely said with a blank stare, having lost all hope.
Ethan didn't answer anything, instead, he walked over to one of the pillars, picked up an axe from the ground, and walked towards Zariel with a slow stride.
"You ask for death? Well, I will grant your wish, but not now."
"Agh...?" Zariel stared at Ethan.
Zariel's gaze faced Ethan's one, making him horrified. Ethan's eye became dark and deep as an abyss, the darkness gathering around it began to swirl, like a vortex leading straight into purgatory.
"Have you really forgotten? The Trial isn't over yet, which means I have to earn as many points as possible. The rules are rules, for everyone." Ethan whispered in a cold voice.