“Two down, six to go.”
Alex’s grin widened as he strode forward, his left arm shifting and warping into the jagged, blood-streaked form of the [Bleeding Dragon Claws].
The transformation sent a deep, crimson glow pulsing through his veins, filling the air with an eerie hum.
As he advanced, another layer of power surrounded him.
His [Universal Orbs] emerged, glowing spheres of shifting energy, each pulsing with a different color as they materialized and began orbiting around him like celestial bodies.
The moment they stabilized, the battlefield was no longer just six against one.
It was six against Alex and everything he wielded.
He was bringing out his full arsenal now.
He wasn’t here to play around, this fight needed to end.
Across from him, Lord X stood unfazed, his gaze steady.
He raised a hand and pointed at Alex, speaking in a flat, almost disinterested tone, to the [Guardians of Hatred].
“Just don’t get hit, and you should be fine. I’ll… take care of the rest.”
But his focus wasn’t entirely on Alex.
His eyes flickered behind him, as if watching something unseen, something lurking just beyond the edges of Alex’s perception.
Alex might not have been able to see it, but he could sense it.
The presence was overwhelming, a suffocating wave of raw, ancient power radiating from deeper within the room.
Something else was here, he was sure of it.
And there could only be one being with such a powerful aura in Universal Descent that would be in this specific location.
But that was a concern for later.
Right now, he had six enemies standing between him and his goal.
[Alex VS Lord X, Kofuku, Kento, Gekido, Yokubo, Kito]
The [Guardians of Hatred] shifted into their battle stances.
Their auras flared up, their hostility sharp enough to carve into the air itself.
Yet despite their numbers, Alex wasn’t even slightly concerned.
Sure, they had the confidence of people who thought they had the upper hand—typical villains.
But he knew better.
Then, without warning, they rushed in.
Well, almost all of them. Lord X remained still, merely watching.
The rest charged toward Alex, ready to end the human that should have been killed long ago.
[Kofuku – Tier 9 – Level 1300]
The jester of the group, Kofuku, twirled his fingers, summoning two enormous purple balls in his hands.
They pulsed violently before he hurled them at Alex.
But Alex barely even reacted.
He simply stepped aside, the projectiles soaring past him harmlessly.
One slash from the floating holy swords around him, and the second ball was sliced clean through, dispersing into nothing.
[Kento – Tier 8 – Level 1100]
At the same time, the tall, tentacle-covered Kento lashed out.
Dark green tendrils shot toward Alex, writhing like living serpents.
Sching!
Before they could reach him, Alex’s swords moved, each and every tendril was severed mid-air before they even got close.
[Gekido – Tier 8 – Level 1200]
Further back, Gekido, the gentlemanly fighter, extended his cane and fired a concentrated laser beam straight at Alex.
Alex didn’t even stop moving.
He darted sideways, avoiding the beam with ease as he kept his focus forward.
[Yokubo – Tier 8 – Level 1250]
From his flank, Yokubo, the only woman of the group, spun like a dancer.
Her blood-soaked bandages unraveled, whipping outward as they lunged to ensnare Alex.
He narrowly avoided them, his speed just enough to stay out of reach, though the bandages still coiled around his swords, trying to crush them.
[Kito – Tier 9 – Level 1450]
And finally, there was Kito, the giant.
Standing at three meters tall with a body of living black stone, he slid across the battlefield with surprising agility.
The cracks in his stone skin glowed crimson, and with a deep rumble, he launched an endless barrage of massive boulders straight at Alex.
It was clear what they were doing now.
They were keeping him at a distance, trying to overwhelm him with attacks from all angles.
Huge spheres, a storm of tendrils, a piercing laser, binding bandages, and a hail of stone projectiles.
It was all meant to pin him down.
They thought that if they could keep him from getting close, they could win.
For a moment, Alex let them believe it.
He countered with his own barrage, the 12 holy swords of [Celestial Judgment] shot forward, aiming to cut through their attacks and turn the tide.
But this time… They failed.
The bandages wrapped around the swords mid-flight, tearing them apart.
The stone boulders shattered the rest, colliding midair with the swords and breaking them apart.
The laser sliced straight through one, dispersing it completely.
One by one, his [Celestial Judgment] blades were destroyed.
And now, he had to move.
Alex narrowed his eyes, “Well… I didn’t want to use them, but I guess I don’t have a choice.”
He had held back, keeping his strongest weapons in reserve in case something truly dangerous happened.
But at this rate…
Even if they couldn’t truly hurt him, and even if he could cancel death itself, he didn’t feel like wasting time dodging for hours.
He exhaled sharply.
It was time.
[You have selected the “Orb of Thunder.”]
[This orb arcs between enemies like a living thunderbolt, chaining from target to target and stunning those it strikes with divine lightning.]
Alex flicked his wrist, and the orb shot forward like a streak of lightning.
It was so fast the [Guardians of Hatred] barely even noticed it until it was too late.
“What is that?”
“Doesn’t matter! Just focus on keeping him back!”
They were confident. Too confident.
They had no idea what was coming.
Right as the first barrage of attacks collided with the orb…
BOOM!
Instead of being destroyed, it absorbed the force, glowing an intense deep blue as sparks of electricity crackled around it.
And then—
CRACK!
A massive bolt of lightning erupted from the orb, striking Yokubo in an instant.
Her body seized up violently as the electricity coursed through her, and in the next second…
She collapsed.
Her bandages froze mid-air, falling limp.
She was completely paralyzed.
“WHAT THE HELL—?!”
“It’s fine! We still have four people—!”
That confidence lasted for only another half-second.
They underestimated it again.
The orb’s power wasn’t a normal attack, it was a [Forbidden Skill].
Fwish!
The moment it finished stunning Yokubo, the lightning jumped, slamming into Kento next.
His body jerked uncontrollably, the dark tendrils around him falling lifelessly to the ground.
Then—
CRACK!
Kito, the boulders stopped flying as his body locked up.
CRACK!
Gekido, his cane slipped from his hands, the laser vanishing.
And finally…
Kofuku, the jester tried to dodge, but the lightning curved mid-air, slamming into his leg and bringing him down.
The battlefield fell silent.
One by one, the Guardians had dropped like flies, completely stunned.
The orb crackled, ready to move again, this time, toward Lord X.
But the moment it shot toward him, he vanished.
Reappearing several meters away.
‘Seems like it loses speed the more people it hits,’ Alex observed.
But that didn’t matter.
He had 10 whole seconds before they could recover.
And 10 seconds was more than enough.
Fwish!
He vanished, dashing forward.
Now it was his turn to attack.
And this fight was about to end.