Chapter 220: Blurred Lines Between Genius And Madness [2] [GOLDEN TICKET BONUS]

In theory, what he was doing was simple, but in practice, it felt like he was balancing on a rope thousands of meters above the ground while fighting against strong winds. The tentacles were still hesitating to approach the fiery whirlpool, but they had started moving toward it again, slowly closing the distance as if they were trying to stop whatever Alex was planning.

Alex ignored them and continued practicing until he finally managed to keep himself suspended on top of the hollow star without immediately losing his balance. His body still shifted slightly with every adjustment, but he was able to remain standing, and once he was confident that the connection would hold, he opened one side of each blade of the star.

He then began stuffing Fire Element Mana into the hollow blades. Alex deliberately avoided using water infused with Fire Element Mana because he needed a sustained explosion rather than one enormous burst, so he continued pouring Fire Element Mana into the blades until the amount finally reached its limit.

A spark appeared, and the Fire Element Mana ignited inside the star. Since only one side of each blade was open, the flames were forced outward through those openings instead of spreading in every direction, causing the star to begin spinning as the flames continuously escaped from its sides.

Alex continued feeding it more Fire Element Mana while trying to balance the spinning motion. The faster the flames were consumed, the faster he needed to supply more mana, and maintaining the balance between those two processes was much harder than he had expected.

Only now did Alex truly understand how difficult it was to fly. The Fire Mage Wild Orc had been tremendously skilled at controlling its star, and that made the previous battle seem even more impressive in hindsight, because the Wild Orc had been controlling a flying construct while attacking him with Fire Spears.

Alex had originally guessed the reason for the Wild Orc’s poor aim, and now he confirmed it. It had been forced to divide its attention between flying, maintaining the star, controlling its movement, and attacking him at the same time.

The star beneath Alex’s feet began producing a low whining sound as the flames inside its blades intensified. It spun faster and faster until the entire construct became difficult to see clearly, and Alex soon felt the pressure beneath his feet change as the star slowly began lifting away from the submerged ground.

He was flying.

Levitating on top of a flying star, however, was much harder than simply making himself float. Alex almost fell several times as the star shifted beneath him, and he had to use his mana to correct his position while maintaining his connection to the construct.

He quickly realized that he could not increase the speed any further to go higher. If he fed the star too much Fire Element Mana, the construct would either become unstable and explode or accelerate so violently that it would throw him sideways or send him straight into the sky.

This much was enough for now.

Alex finally focused his attention back on the whirlpool surrounding him. Instead of continuing to spin the water around his position, he released his control over the current and allowed the rotating water to fling itself toward the direction from which the tentacles had been approaching. Unfortunately, Alex had not properly calculated the force created by the spinning motion. The fire-infused water began spreading in every direction rather than traveling as one concentrated mass, but there was so much of it that the mistake did not matter, as countless droplets and streams of glowing water spread across the flooded forest.

Alex knew he had only a few seconds before the empty space around him was filled with water again. He gave one final push to the star beneath his feet, and the construct suddenly accelerated, carrying Alex upward as he shot into the sky.

For the first time, Alex could properly see the area around him. Below him was a shattered and submerged forest, while the glowing whirlpool continued spreading through the darkness, illuminating the flooded trees and revealing something in the far distance that immediately caught his attention.

A giant hole was visible beneath the water.

It could only be seen because the glowing water was spreading around it, and even from his position in the air, Alex could tell that the hole had an enormous diameter. Its depth disappeared into darkness, making it impossible for him to determine how far it extended.

That was where the tentacles were coming from.

Alex stared at the hole and wondered whether it had been there since the beginning. If it had, he could not understand how they had failed to discover something so enormous when they first explored the area. The other possibility was even more unsettling. Had the hole been created after the night arrived?

Alex had no time to think about it further because the mana star beneath his feet suddenly began cracking. The construct had reached its limit and could no longer withstand the force of the flames inside it, so Alex prepared himself to fall while immediately creating another Fire Bullet.

As he began falling, Alex fired the Fire Bullet toward the glowing water surrounding the giant hole. The projectile traveled through the air before reaching the water infused with Fire Element Mana, which had already been compressed to its maximum safe limit.

The result was immediate.

A terrifying explosion erupted across the flooded forest, and for a brief moment, it looked as though daylight had returned to the island. A tremendous shockwave spread outward from the hole, throwing Alex through the air while the heat became so intense that his clothes nearly caught fire.

Fortunately, Alex was already high above the water when the explosion occurred, allowing him to avoid the worst of the blast. Even so, the heat and shockwave were powerful enough to send him tumbling through the air, and he quickly created another mana star beneath his feet before he fell too far.

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