Chapter 274: Shattered Glass [GOLDEN TICKET BONUS]

Alex remained alert and waited for several seconds, but the monster didn’t move again. There were no notifications. Only then did he realize that his battle had ended before the others, and he turned his attention toward the rest of the clearing.

The other group was still fighting the Lightning Grim Ape. The leader of the group was already rushing toward the injured monster when five lightning spears suddenly appeared around the Grim Ape and shot toward him.

The man dodged the first attacks while continuing forward, but the moment the last lightning spear struck the ground, all five suddenly released lightning. The energy spread across the ground and wrapped around his body, paralyzing him for a brief moment.

The Grim Ape immediately took advantage of the opening and swung its massive fist toward the man. The attack shattered his body, causing it to break apart like glass, but instead of dying, his figure suddenly appeared above the Grim Ape with a pair of daggers in his hands.

He swung both daggers rapidly, targeting the wounds the Basilisk had already inflicted on the Grim Ape. The attacks were clearly causing serious pain, and the monster released an angry roar while trying to reach him.

Lightning suddenly erupted from the Grim Ape’s body and struck the man on its shoulders, paralyzing him again. His body shattered once more, only for another version of him to appear farther away from the Grim Ape as the monster stopped releasing lightning and began panting heavily.

Alex watched the scene carefully and noticed that the daggers carried something on their blades, which was probably poison. However, he still couldn’t understand the nature of the ability that allowed the first man to reappear after his body was destroyed.

’Is he creating illusions? No, his attacks are real, and I can see the ground being crushed whenever he moves. Are those clones?’

While Alex was still trying to understand the ability, the second man raised his enormous sword. He had been standing farther away from the Grim Ape for most of the battle, and Alex now realized that he had been preparing something this entire time.

"Mountain-Breaker Technique!"

The man swung his sword downward, and a red glow erupted from the blade before flying toward the Grim Ape with enormous force. The attack struck the injured High Rank monster and cleaved its body into two.

Alex stared at the result for a moment because he hadn’t expected the prepared strike to be this powerful. He had understood that the second man was preparing a powerful attack while the first man distracted the Grim Ape, while the third man used his strange ability to interfere with the space and protect them.

Even so, Alex hadn’t expected the attack to be powerful enough to kill a High Rank monster in a single strike. Of course, it only worked because the monster was too injured to dodge and block. Still, no one could deny the strength of the attack. The battlefield finally became quiet as both High Rank monsters lay motionless on the ground.

Notifications appeared in front of Alex.

[Level 15 Stone Basilisk (High Rank Species) killed.]

[Level 13 Lightning Grim Ape (High Rank Species) killed.]

[You have leveled up. Level 11 → Level 12.]

[Mana Sphere Spell has leveled up. Level 3 → Level 5.]

[Mana Shuriken Spell has leveled up. Level 4 → Level 6.]

[Mana Disruption Blade has leveled up. Level 3 → Level 5.]

[Soul Reinforcement Spell has leveled up. Level 9 → Level 10.]

[Soul Reinforcement Spell has reached Max Level.]

[Soul Reinforcement Spell can now be evolved. Choose an evolution...]

...

Matthew was breathing heavily as he looked toward the sky and took several deep breaths. The battle had been much harder than he expected, especially because he had spent too much time watching Alex’s fight and nearly allowed the Lightning Grim Ape to kill him.

Even so, Matthew didn’t regret it because watching Alex fight had been too valuable to ignore. He had wanted to know how strong Alex really was, and what he had witnessed had far exceeded his expectations.

’This guy is a freak of nature.’

Matthew looked toward Alex again as he tried to understand what he had just witnessed. During the battle, he had been unable to properly "see" Alex’s mana because it seemed that Alex had kept most of it confined within his Mana Heart until the fight reached its most dangerous stage.

Now that Alex had released so much mana, Matthew could finally see it clearly. The sheer amount was so overwhelming that Matthew found it difficult to even look directly at him.

’It’s blinding. I can barely look straight at him because of how much mana he has. Even those mana constructs he used had more mana stuffed in them, than what an entire mana pool of an average mage would have.’

Matthew recalled the battle from beginning to end, and goosebumps spread across his skin as he remembered how Alex had fought the Basilisk. Alex’s first command had made it obvious that he wasn’t completely certain how to fight the monster, yet despite facing a creature capable of turning him into stone, he had never truly stepped back from the battle.

More importantly, Matthew remembered the strange ability the Basilisk had used near the end of their battle. Samuel had immediately warned him to retreat because everything within a certain radius was being turned into stone, and even Sameul could not block it. Alex had been caught inside that area.

Not only had Alex survived the attack, but he had still managed to move and continue the battle against the Basilisk. Even more surprising, the last two mana constructs had actually reached the monster instead of being turned into stone like everything else around it. How did he even find a way to block the petrification gaze?

’He analyzed the monster’s attack, found a way to defend against it, and then developed a counter against it, all within a battle that barely lasted a few minutes.’

..

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