Whisked Away [II]

On my knees, still struggling to rise, I watched as Jake began summoning a Card.

To my surprise, it wasn't his Origin Card.

Instead, he was deploying a long-range Spell Card.

If I had to guess, his plan was to severely hurt me from a safe distance — then jump in for the kill.

Typical.

The coward's way to play predator.

"You might already know this," he said as the Spell Card took shape above him in a swirl of light particles, "but I always admired you, Sam. You were just so fearless. Strong. Effortlessly popular. Iron-willed. And most importantly... you were my friend. Or at least — I thought you were."

He took a slow step backward. "But with you, I always felt like a background character. Like you were the hero, and I was just... there. In your shadow. Because no matter how much spotlight there was, it would never be enough for the great Samael Kaizer Theosbane, right?"