Two figures were moving while fighting inside the underground chamber of the research base rapidly.
No, it was wrong to call it a fight. It was not a battle between equals. It was one-sided domination. One figure was being beaten without mercy, while the other moved with calm and terrifying control.
These two figures had completely different appearances.
One had a pair of black and silver eyes, while the other figure was completely black.
The one with a pair of black and silver eyes was Alex. His gaze was cold, deep, and emotionless. The dark figure in front of him was Karoth. His body was huge and monstrous, covered in black scales. Yet at this moment, that terrifying body looked fragile, as if it were nothing more than a broken puppet in front of Alex.
Boom!
Alex stepped forward and punched. He didn't use any technique, skill, or complicated movement. His punch was very simple and ordinary.
But the moment his fist moved, space around it trembled. The underground chamber let out a low and painful sound, as if it were being crushed by invisible pressure. The air twisted violently, and thin cracks appeared in space itself.
However, just as those cracks were about to spread, a mysterious force pressed down and forced them to close. The space trembled, shook, and stabilized again, as if an unseen hand was holding the underground world together.
Although the space was stabilized by the mysterious force, the same was not true for Karoth.
Karoth was not so lucky at all.
Bang!
Alex's fist landed on his chest, and his body was sent flying like a broken stone. He slammed into the air and rolled helplessly before barely stabilizing himself. A deep crack appeared on his chest where Alex's fist had landed.
Looking closely, the place on Karoth's chest where Alex's fist landed immediately lost its color. The flesh around the crack became dry and gray, as if its life had been sucked away. The area was losing vitality at a visible rate.
"ROAR!"
Karoth roared in pain and rage.
The sound of his roar was filled with fear and madness. It was like the scream of a beast that knew it was facing something it could not resist.
Alex did not even blink. He walked forward slowly with steady steps. However, every time he stepped forward, the ground trembled violently. Moreover, a terrifying pressure also erupted from his body.
Shua!
Boom!
The next moment, Alex moved and vanished in a flash before appearing in front of Karoth. His knee rose and slammed into Karoth's abdomen.
Bang!
The impact created a deep shockwave. The space around them folded inward, forming layers of distortion. The underground chamber shook violently again. Cracks spread in the air like shattered glass, but once more, a mysterious force blew like a soft whistle and easily suppressed them, forcing everything back into order.
Although Alex was still confused, he knew he couldn't think too much about it, not for the time being.
"Pfftt!"
Karoth's body bent like soft clay. His eyes widened, and blood sprayed from his mouth in a thick stream. A new crack appeared on his abdomen, spreading slowly like a dying scar. The vitality there was fading rapidly, as if life itself was being erased.
He tried to raise his arm and fight back. But before he could move, Alex appeared beside him once again and grabbed his wrist.
Crack.
Immediately, a sound echoed in the air. This sound was dry and sharp, and it was produced when Alex suddenly twisted Karoth's arm unnaturally, causing another crack to spread from the place Alex was holding. The black skin lost its shine almost in an instant and turned dull, as if it were rotting from the inside.
Alex lifted Karoth with one hand and slammed him into the ground.
Boom!
The ground shook violently again. The underground chamber trembled as if it were about to collapse. Space rippled like water struck by a massive stone. Cracks appeared everywhere in the air, but they were immediately suppressed by the same unseen power. In fact, the cracks in the air disappeared just a few seconds after the mysterious force appeared.
At this moment, Karoth was lying on the ground, twitching nonstop. He tried to roar, but only broken sounds came out of his throat.
"You—"
Karoth struggled to raise his head a little and was about to say something when Alex lifted his foot and stepped on his chest.
"Bang!"
As Alex stepped on Karoth's chest, Karoth's chest caved in slightly due to the immense force. Another large crack spread across his body. That place also lost all vitality in an instant, turning gray and lifeless.
Everything was very strange in Karoth's eyes.
First of all, Karoth could not believe what was happening to him. He was being beaten by a human who was only at the Great Saint Stage. This was simply impossible. It had to be known that he himself was a peak Saint King Stage hybrid. His body was created through forbidden fusion, his power far beyond that of other ordinary Saint Kings. Yet now, he was being suppressed so completely that he could not even fight back. This reality shattered everything he believed about strength and hierarchy.
Secondly, the person beating him was strange in a way that went beyond cultivation. It was mainly because of those eyes. That pair of black and silver eyes was terrifying. The moment Karoth looked into Alex's eyes, his heart trembled violently. He felt relief and despair at the same time. He felt two emotions that should never coexist. It was as if he were staring directly into the eyes of death itself.
But in the very next moment, that feeling changed. The death he sensed suddenly transformed into overwhelming vitality. It was so vast and pure that it felt limitless. It was as if all life in the universe was gathered inside those eyes. That vitality was so powerful that Karoth instinctively felt that if he could obtain even a fraction of it, no one would ever be able to kill him. Not even Immortals would be able to touch him.
This contradiction terrified him even more.
Death and life were intertwined within Alex's gaze. They were not opposing forces but two sides of the same existence.
This realization shook Karoth's soul as well. It made him understand that he was not facing a normal human, but a monster far beyond his own level.
Moreover, every time Alex attacked, Karoth clearly felt that Alex's attacks were not just damaging flesh and bone. They were destroying the vitality itself. Wherever he struck, life was being erased almost in an instant.
The most terrifying aspect about Alex's attacks was that Karoth could no longer feel those places at all. Those places, where Alex attacked, were clearly part of his own body, but now, he could no longer sense or control them.
This was also the reason he was struggling so hard to stand and speak, yet he was unable to.
"It's time!"
Alex again appeared beside Karoth and looked into Karoth's eyes. Then he placed his hand on Karoth's head and muttered, "Devour!"
The next moment, a powerful devouring force erupted from his body, bringing along a burst of golden-red energy that enveloped Karoth completely.
It didn't take long for this golden-red energy to disappear, but when it vanished, Karoth was no longer present inside the underground chamber of the Research Base.
