As always, desperation fueled Alex, driving him to think and innovate. His mind raced as he attempted to solve the problem known as the monster.
While observing the monster's internal breakdown, he deftly evaded its attacks by utilising teleportation. Within a minute, he depleted the mana from twenty of his cores, which he had assigned specifically for teleportation.
Exhaustion engulfed him as he felt the danger intensify. Retreat was not an option, nor was he inclined to consider it. Entering the interdimensional farm for temporary relief could have been tempting. However, doing so would expose others to the monster's relentless pursuit. If, by chance, it managed to consume one of them, all their efforts would be in vain.
Thus, he resolutely relied on his unwavering belief in his ability to conquer the beast through sheer stamina, persistently pushing forward.
Without any hesitation, he activated the energy recovery mode for the twenty depleted cores. This added to his already burdened mind, yet Alex couldn't afford to be concerned with such matters. His very life relied on the swift recovery of mana within those cores.
"Ahrr..." He screamed in agony as he desperately fled from the relentless pursuit of the monster.
"Swish..." The monster swiftly closed in on him, slashing its arms through the air in an attempt to rend his vulnerable back to pieces. The forceful rush of air served as a stark reminder to Alex of the imminent danger, causing his white robes to flutter in the wind.
"Not today," He said defiantly, narrowly evading the monster's attack by changing his direction quickly. However, the sheer force of the assault had already inflicted a bloody gash on his back. The mark resembled deep scratch marks, yet by fortune's grace, the damage to his muscles was relatively minimal. It was a close shave.
With tremendous force, the massive body of the monster surged forward, breezing past Alex. Unlike him, the beast struggled to manoeuvre its bulky frame swiftly. The sheer momentum carried it forward, leaving a deep pit in the sandy beach as it ploughed through the terrain.
Alex seized the opportunity with unwavering determination. Taking the risk of confronting the monster head-on, he had managed to regain enough mana to teleport once. With renewed resolve, Alex pursued the beast, fully aware that he could not rely on the intervention of a benevolent white snake this time. He was prepared to vanquish the monster with his own hands.
Clasped tightly in his hand were ten meticulously prepared cards, precisely intended for such situations., his trump cards. Alex intended to reciprocate his pain by inflicting wounds upon the monster this time. His goal was to find a means to increase the decay of the monster's body, and the most effective method was to induce it to expend greater energy in its attacks. This would hasten the breakdown of its muscles—an understanding that Alex held firmly. Thus, he was determined to employ the cards as a means to achieve this outcome.
"Let's test the strength of your defence," Alex declared, his grip firm on the cards.
His taunting words provoked the monster, causing the surging energy surrounding its body to ripple as it propelled itself toward Alex.
"Excellent. That's it, good boy!" Alex remarked with a hint of satisfaction. He activated the spells contained within the cards—simple fire spells, albeit enhanced by Alex's power. These spells were intentionally crafted to ignite and burn gradually on the enemy's body surface.
As the monster closed in on him, Alex dispersed a portion of his mana into the air, enveloping his body in a smokescreen. The creature heavily relied on sensing mana to locate its prey, so this sudden burst of mana clouding the area disoriented the monster momentarily.
Struggling to pinpoint Alex's exact location within the smokescreen, the monster's attack missed its mark.
The shockwave resulting from the failed attack dissipated the mana cloud, but it allowed Alex to stealthily advance toward the beast. With swift precision, he hurled ten cards in various directions, strategically scattering them all around the monster's body.
"Ignite..." Alex silently chanted in his mind as he witnessed the cards transforming into a magnificent display of fiery pillars, reaching upward into the sky. The flames engulfed the monster, slowly consuming its skin. The creature swiftly coated its body in energy, attempting to extinguish the fire, but Alex refused to grant it any respite.
Closing in on the monster, now resembling a fiery globe, Alex swiftly retrieved a bin filled with highly flammable oil. Waste no time, he hurled it at the creature, intensifying the already engulfing flames.
Although the flames themselves couldn't harm the monster, they disoriented it enough to immobilise its movements. Capitalising on this opportunity, Alex cast one final spell to complete his devastating combo. He modified his usual freezing spell to transform a specific gas into a liquid state.
With precision, Alex launched the liquefied ball of gas at the monster. However, instead of freezing the creature, an explosive eruption ensued upon contact with the blazing giant. As anticipated, the liquefied gas happened to be oxygen. The highly concentrated oxygen, merging with the scorching oil, ignited the beast into a powerful explosion.
Alex had to teleport away to save himself from being swallowed by the explosion.
While each of Alex's attacks alone may have been harmless to the monster, their combined impact intensified the threat posed. Even the formidable creature began to sense the peril to its own life, prompting it to expend a significant amount of energy in defence.
The energy wave emanating from the monster cleared its surroundings of the fire, salvaging its existence. However, the exertion drained the creature, leaving it feeling the strain on its strength.
The crowd that observed the battle from a distance stood in awe of the white-robed man's remarkable combat skills and resourcefulness. Witnessing his prowess, they silently vowed never to provoke him as an enemy. Luckily for them, the man harboured no ill intentions towards them. On the contrary, he aided them in their struggles against the black-robed men.
His enemies were the black-robed individuals, who in turn were their enemies, the crowd embraced the notion that "the enemy of their enemy is their friend." This realisation brought them a sense of relief and reassurance.
However, Kalina who regained some strength, now standing beside the warriors of the ice phoenix tribe was looking at the battle with worried eyes. She knew that if Alex was resorting to tricks to deal with his enemy, he might have no other option left to consider.
The bleeding wound on his back signified his weakness. She felt pain just viewing the blood dripping from his back into the white robes he wore.
If only she could help him. Kalina thought in her mind.
Meanwhile, Alex paid little attention to the thoughts of the onlookers. He had successfully diverted the monster's attention for three minutes, but he needed to keep it distracted for three more minutes. If he could accomplish this, he believed he could solve the problem posed by the monster.
With eager anticipation, Alex gazed upon the creature that emerged from the fiery inferno. Its skin displayed signs of slight burns in certain areas, and cracks had formed due to the intense energy expenditure. The monster was undoubtedly growing weaker, a fact that Alex was confident about.
Gone was the overwhelming sense of threat that the monster had previously emanated. It now struggled to move its body, indicating its diminished strength. He had successfully accelerated the decay of the monster's body.
Filled with exhilaration at this revelation, Alex momentarily disregarded the pain in his back as he lunged forward towards the weakening monster. While he continued to regain energy with each passing second, the creature's strength steadily waned.
His meticulously crafted plan was finally unfolding, bringing him closer to his desired outcome.
"Shit head, let me demonstrate the importance of a brain!" Alex bellowed as he sprinted towards the monster, his fist pulsating with mana. Radiating an air of unwavering confidence, he closed the distance between them.
In response to Alex's provocation, the monster channelled the energy within its body toward its muscles, pushing them to their limits and exacerbating their deterioration. Despite its anger, the creature launched an attack at Alex.
However, in a display of his agility and quick thinking, Alex swiftly teleported away, causing the monster to exhaust even more of its energy in vain.
"That's why you need a brain," Alex quipped with a smug tone as he teleported behind the monster, opting not to launch a direct attack.
Alex could sense that the monster's strength was on the brink of collapse. With this knowledge, he decided to further taunt and provoke the creature. He circled around it, deliberately goading the monster into a state of heightened fury, causing it to unleash increasingly greater amounts of energy.
"Thank you..." Alex expressed his gratitude with a sense of satisfaction, confident that the foolish monster's demise was imminent.
However, just as Alex was beginning to let his guard down, an overwhelming sense of apprehension surged through him, triggering his reflex to teleport away. In that split second, a colossal white snake materialised in the sky, its massive tail descending with formidable force, obliterating the weakened monster into nothing more than a pulverised mass of flesh and bones.
Following its swift and decisive strike, the white snake spat out a partially decomposed corpse and swiftly departed, leaving the astonished crowd in a state of shock.
"Fuck, I almost had it this time," Alex exclaimed looking at the departing figure of the white snake who stole his thunder. "Nevertheless, white snake, as the white-robed man, I shall grant you forgiveness for your unexpected intrusion"
This chapt𝓮r is updat𝒆d by (f)reew𝒆b(n)ovel.com