Three seconds.
That's all the time Samael bought by shackling the beasts with his innate ability.
After that, the monsters either broke free by brute force or the stone hands began crumbling into rubble.
It turned out that performing such a large-scale transmutation took a heavy toll on him — both physically and mentally.
Not only was his Essence reserve nearly depleted, but his focus was also fraying at the edges.
It made sense in hindsight.
After all, transmuting even a simple moving construct was taxing. Binding dozens of monsters mid-rampage? It bordered on impossible.
But he managed to pull off the impossible, if even for only three seconds.
And those mere three seconds were more than enough for the tides of battle to shift — however briefly — in the favor of humans.
In the sudden stillness, dozens of Cadets found their footing. Formations reformed. Monster ranks broke. Momentum tilted.
Of course, none of it was going to last.
