''Hahahaha! Good, now it's has become interesting.''
After stopping Isabella from intervening, Alex laughed hard; his eyes were shining, filled with delight, a delight to fight against a strong opponent.
Seeing this, Artemia smiled in turn before declaring.
''Here I come.''
She then flicked her fingers; the nine lightning chains shot at Alex again. Alex's injured shoulder was healed already; therefore, he created another gun using Xerox; closing his eyes, he decided to rely on his senses to detect where the chains would attack from; they were too fast for him to dodge.
'Wait! Why not use Sleipnir? Like this, I will be able to detect the chains. Even though they move at the speed of sound, they moved through the air, using the wind element I can sense them.'
From the moment Alex thought that he immediately poured MP into Sleipnir to go in that particular state where he feels one with the wind.
'There, and there!!'
As expected, the moment he used Sleipnir's unique ability, he sensed the aura of incoming chains, something he was previously unable to do, relying on his sense and Divine Sense.
Leaning slightly toward his right, Alex was able to dodge the first chain; shifting back to his previous position; he dodged the second chain before firing under his right armpit to deflect the third chain slightly from its initial target.
''I see, you have already come up with a solution.''
Seeing Alex dodging her chains almost effortlessly, Artemia said before her, smiling.
''However, it won't be so easy.''
[Nine Layered Chains Second Form: Sonic Chains]
The nine lightning chains abruptly change color, turning light gold.
Swoosh! Swoosh!
Faster than before, the lightning chains tore through the air and arrived before Alex; even though he could sense them through the wind in the air, he knew he couldn't dodge this time.
''Shadow Shift''
Before the nine lightning chains could pierce him, Alex used Shadow Shift to switch place with Artemia, and it was then he heard.
''I knew you would do that.''
[Nine Layered Chains Third Form: Lightning Punch]
''No good.'' Alex knew he had fallen into Artemia's trap, and before he could teleport using Accel, from the ground where he appeared, nine chains came out of the ground and transformed into a punch that struck Alex in the stomach.
''Guh! Ah!"
Alex was sent spiraling into the; he almost lost consciousness; somehow, a small amount of lightning got into his body, making his body spasms.
Gritting his teeth, Alex secretly threw a knife before muttering Accel.
Artemia, who was watching free-falling from the sky, suddenly sensed an immense danger, she immediately shouted.
[Nine layered Chains Fourth Form: Chains Shield]
Nine lightning chains came out from the ground and tried to form a shield made of chains in Artemia's back; however, faster than them, a small object passed through the gap in the chains.
Fortunately, at the last moment, Artemia titled her head to the side, managing to dodge the small object; even so, she still received a small cut on her cheek.
At the same time, Alex fell to the ground; he rolled on the ground before standing up.
''Fufufu! As expected of you, I knew you wouldn't disappoint me. Even though you received such a heavy punch, not only are you almost unharmed, you were still able to attack me.''
''Same goes for you; you didn't disappoint me. I wonder how many forms that new skill of yours has?" Alex said while dusting himself.
''As I said because my Gift is incomplete and because of my current level, I can exhibit this ability to its fullest; however, there's one final form, a special form I wish to test, be wary of it, you may become heavily injured. Are you ready?"
Facing Artemia's question, Alex's answer was obvious.
''Bring on.''
''Good!" Artemia said before licking the blood on fingers. She looked devilish.
Both Silveria and Isabella sighed; the latter wondered if this still could be considered sparring.
Alex and Artemia stared at each other in the eyes for the third time before Artemia declared.
[Nine Layered Chains Ninth Form: Judgement Spear]
Rumble!
The fake sun inside the dungeon disappeared, replaced by a cloudy sky, golden lightning appeared before disappearing.
A huge magic circle appeared under Alex's feet, making him unable to move his body; from the sky, nine golden lightning chains appeared before combining into five meters long golden spear.
This spear was pointed downward, exactly at Alex. Then it was shot at him; everything happened so fast, from the time Artemia took to announce her Gift ability to the time the sun disappeared, and that golden spear appeared not even three seconds passed.
Alex couldn't watch as the Judgement Spear come toward him. No matter what he did, he couldn't move his body; the magic circle under his feet seemed to make his body unable to move. Artemia came prepared; she made Silveria pointed forward, not downward, as she feared Alex using Erase.
Even though Alex knew Artemia would stop the spear before he was greatly injured, that would mean he lost; just thinking about such a possibility made Alex angry; he doesn't want to lose.
'I mustn't lose, definitely not.' Alex bellowed; his body cracked as he tried to move his body forcibly but in the end, fail; he bit his lip until it bleeds.
〖Master, should I help, I need your authoriz-〗
'Do not even think about.' Alex refused Silveria's proposition before she couldn't even finish saying it.
Suddenly, Alex got an idea; he unsealed his right eye to lock onto the incoming spear, hoping to stop its movement, even though if it was for a moment. Unfortunately, it was a failure.
'Fuck! If only I can stop time, even if it is for a second.' Alex couldn't help but lament as he watches the Judgement Spear slowly descend toward him.
It was that moment something astonishing happened, Alex's right eye throbbed violently before a small clock appeared inside it, then,
Click!
This sound was heard by Alex, Artemia, Isabella, Silveria, and another person; this person smiled, something she rarely did.
〖No way, to-〗
Before Silveria could finish what she was about to say, as she knew what this sound means, time stop,
Even though Alex didn't know what happened, why he was the only one still moving while everything seemed to freeze, he pointed his gun toward the golden spear while fighting against the terrible pain assaulting him; his head was about to split apart.
Just he pointed Silveria at the incoming spear time resumed and,
[Synthesize]
Before Artemia and Isabella couldn't ask what just happened, they saw a pure white bullet clashing against Artemia's Judgement spear.
Kaboom!
When the two clashed, a mega explosion occurred that shook the 24th, almost creating a sand avalanche; a considerable part of the dungeon's ceiling was momentarily gone.
Thud!
Alex falls to the ground; Artemia stood there dumfounded before suddenly puking a mouthful of blood before passing out; in the end, she still did not understand what just happened. Why do their bodies momentarily stop?