“Sure,” Astariel shrugged.
The Fallen Angel didn’t understand why Alex had to hit people for no reason, but he didn’t question it further.
Everyone had their own strange ways of gaining power.
He knew that better than anyone.
After all, if someone asked him how his blades worked, he wouldn’t feel like explaining either.
‘Probably linked to a power,’ he thought, figuring that was the most reasonable explanation.
Tap! Tap! Tap!
Alex continued tapping Astariel gently.
It wasn’t painful, just repetitive, and after the thirty-fifth tap, he felt a surge of power inside him.
[Destiny Points] had reached their maximum again.
“Thanks,” Alex said simply before they went their separate ways.
Alex sighed.
He still felt a little bitter about wasting his [Token Compass].
That item was supposed to be his way of tracking down [Token Holders] with ease, yet he had been forced to use it in an entirely different way.
But at the same time… if he hadn’t met Astariel, he would have been dead.
Xyrran would have erased him from existence without hesitation once his [Threads of Fate] were gone.
Looking at it from that perspective, things hadn’t turned out too badly.
It wasn’t the best outcome, but it wasn’t the worst either.
Now, all he had to do was wait. Read exclusive content at My Virtual Library Empire
The zone was already shrinking, and he couldn’t find anyone nearby.
Returning to the center of the domain would be incredibly stupid.
Xyrran was probably still furious.
Primordial Dragons despised having their ego damaged.
Getting outsmarted or even worse, getting forced to retreat by beings they considered inferior, was unacceptable to them.
Alex, but mostly Astariel, had done exactly that.
If Xyrran saw him again, there was a good chance he’d chase Alex even if another [Token Holder] was literally dancing in front of him.
“You managed to avoid a Primordial Dragon for more than four minutes,” Alphox informed him, “That should be enough to grant you access to the bloodline when they inspect you. But be careful, these bastards can be biased.”
Alex frowned, “What do you mean?”
“Primordial Dragons can go back on their word if they feel like it,” Alphox said, his voice filled with irritation, “They have their own sense of pride. If they decide you don’t deserve their bloodline, they’ll reject you, even if you met the requirements.”
Alex sighed. That was annoying.
“So what do I do?”
“Just get another token and survive.”
“Alright.”
Alex stretched his legs before dashing forward.
Back when Xyrran was chasing him, he had unsummoned his fox summons since there was no point in letting them die for no reason.
But now that things were calmer, he could bring them back.
With a flick of his wrist, he summoned five out of the ten foxes, each infused with a different element, fire, water, electric, light, and darkness.
There was a good reason for this.
If one of them died, Alex would immediately be notified, and the element of the fallen fox would tell him which direction it had been in before it was slain.
This was why he only summoned one of each type.
If he had summoned all of his foxes and one died, it would be much harder to tell where the enemy was.
But with only five, each tied to a specific element, it was a lot easier to pinpoint the location.
Still, ideally, he wouldn’t even have to rely on that.
His summons had orders to return to him the moment they found someone.
Now… he just had to wait.
Twenty minutes passed.
Nothing happened.
The zone continued shrinking, and the number of participants kept going down, but at a much slower rate than before.
Most of the weaker participants had already been eliminated, so the remaining ones were either skilled survivors or strong enough to defend themselves.
But then—
Ding!
[Your Water Element Fox Summon was slain.]
Alex grinned, “Bingo.”
This was his chance.
He didn’t know if it was a [Token Holder] or just some random participant who thought his fox was a monster, but either way, it meant someone was in that direction.
And since no monsters in the overworld of this trial were strong enough to kill his summons, it was definitely a person.
Alex immediately unsummoned the rest of his foxes, since he could do it from any distance, then sprinted toward the location where his water fox had fallen.
The chase lasted twenty-five minutes.
Alex was fast, but his target had been moving too.
It took time to catch up.
Eventually, he reached his destination… and came face to face with three [Token Holders].
A trio.
Alex’s heart skipped a beat.
He recognized them.
‘Wait… these guys…’
Each of them had the golden outline that marked them as [Token Holders].
A spinning token floated above their heads, glowing ominously.
They had formed a team.
That was smart.
By working together, they lowered their chances of being forced to kill each other.
At this stage, there was no reason for [Token Holders] to fight amongst themselves.
The best strategy was to eliminate everyone else first.
But for Alex… this was bad news.
Because these weren’t just any random [Token Holders].
He knew them.
Back in the fifth hallway, he had used [Fated Cataclysm] to wipe out nearly everyone who tried to ambush him.
But three people had survived.
And now… those same three stood in front of him.
“Two minutes before the Calamity appears,” one of them spoke, it was the woman with long white hair and large, angelic wings, “We should be safe as long as it hunts other [Token Holders],” she added.
“GRAAAHHH~” The second one, a three-meter-tall minotaur, let out a guttural laugh, cracking his knuckles, “WE’LL KICK THEIR ASSES!”
The third person, a cloaked man completely shrouded in black, sighed.
“Not like I can die anyway…”
They were powerful.
Alex could tell just by looking at them.
If he fought recklessly, he’d be dead.
Maybe it would be better to not engage them.
He had already wasted his [Token Compass].
He couldn’t afford to take unnecessary risks.
But at the same time…
This was an opportunity.
If he could take them out before the [Calamity] arrived, his chances of surviving would skyrocket.
Alex steadied his breathing, gripping his staff tightly.
He was about to make his move.
But then—
“Someone’s watching us.”
The angelic woman’s voice was calm, but her expression hardened.
“I noticed him too,” the cloaked man said flatly. “Maybe he thinks we didn’t?”
“THE HUMAN!” The minotaur’s eyes locked onto Alex.
He grinned, slamming his fists together. “COME AT ME!”
Alex clicked his tongue.
Damn.
He lost his element of surprise.
Backing down wasn’t an option anymore.
He had to fight.
Alex raised his staff, preparing to launch a long-range attack.
But just as he was about to strike—
Ding!
[Time Remaining: 4:00:00]
[The Calamity has awakened again for five minutes.]
Alex froze.
Then… he heard the first roar.
The sky turned red.
Something ancient had awakened.
But it was different than before.
He remembered reading about [Calamity Events] and that each Calamity would be different from the last to keep things interesting and not make it too easy.
But that also meant Xyrran had many more ways to get rid of them without directly fighting now.
And now… everything was about to become hell.