'Son of a bitch,' Alex cursed the rhino-man as his senses locked onto the oncoming beast tide.
Noticing the sheer number of beasts and monsters forming this tide, cold sweat burst across his forehead.
Fortunately for them, there were no level 6 monsters inside the tide. If that had been the case, he was pretty much certain the city wouldn't see tomorrow. However, the number of level 5 within the tide was extremely concerning.
It had to be remembered that monsters at level 5 and higher had some form of intelligence — some even as smart or smarter than humans. They were beasts that combined their superior strength with intelligence, making them much deadlier. Fortunately, monsters of their level and above didn't roam freely everywhere, otherwise this continent would have been ruled by beasts.
Being at the first stage of developing intelligence, level 5 monsters were less dangerous than their higher-leveled counterparts, but they were still extremely dangerous in their own right — which was why seeing dozens of them heading toward the city was quite alarming to Alex.
It would have been concerning even if the city were at its peak, yet Drisidd was currently the most vulnerable it had ever been in its history.
When he swept his senses over the region to spot the beast tide, Alex's senses had also picked up on the number of conscious people still moving in the city — and he didn't like what he saw one bit.
There were currently just a little over two hundred people conscious in the entirety of Drisidd.
One could think that this was good news, and Alex might also have thought so if there wasn't a tide of about one or two thousand monsters charging at the city right now.
The worst? These two hundred survivors weren't even the strongest the city had to offer.
It had to be remembered that the artifact that caused all this chaos only targeted the mind, so the people who fell unconscious simply had weaker minds. Since this was the case, the situation was actually even more alarming. Having a strong mind didn't make someone physically strong or effective in a fight. Freya, Frieda, and Maya were proof of that.
What did all of this mean? It meant that among the two hundred still conscious, there was a chance that more than half weren't even strong enough to have any impact against the coming tide.
The more he thought about the situation, the grimmer Alex's expression became. Things weren't supposed to turn out like this!
He had only come here to make a deal with the Drazen family about selling his potions, and now here he was — fighting off an attack orchestrated by a terrorist group, with over ninety-nine percent of the city's population unconscious or dead while thousands of monsters marched toward them!
He really had some shitty luck!
"There!" the rhino shouted with a grin, "there it is, the hint of panic I was looking for," he said, laughing. "But it's not enough. I need more. I need you completely broken and despairing!"
Alex looked at him as if he were staring at an idiot, then shook his head. 'That's right. Before anything else, I need to deal with this guy as fast as possible if I hope to have enough time to do something about the tide.'
Since he was now pressed for time, Alex didn't want to waste another second.
He took a deep breath, and as he exhaled, a thick, malevolent-looking purple smoke flowed from his mouth. In the blink of an eye it grew into a small cloud, and then expanded further — surging like a relentless tide, all-encompassing and smothering as it swallowed the rhino-man whole.
The very instant this happened, the rhino felt that he could no longer sense Arcanor's presence — as if the latter had vanished entirely.
Meanwhile, Alex could be seen crouching low, so low he resembled a predator about to pounce… and then he exploded forward.
The spot he had stood on moments earlier cracked apart as countless spiderweb fractures spread outward. By the time the ground shattered, Alex had already appeared in front of his opponent — and before the latter could react, Alex's fist slammed into his chest with brutal precision.
Clang!
A sound akin to something hard colliding against metal reverberated as the rhino was pushed a few steps back, but that was it.
Alex's eyes narrowed, but he didn't stop his assault.
He pressed forward relentlessly, each strike landing with precision, yet the brute's immense strength and armor-like hide barely flinched under the blows.
As Alex went to deliver another kick towards him, the rhino took a sudden step forward towards the former.
Alex's leg landed true, but he immediately felt a tingle of danger, so he moved to retreat, but it was too late.
After a moment trying to sense Alex's presence, the boss of the masked men understood that it was no use; he couldn't seem to find Alex as long as the latter was inside the smoke cloud he had made. In that moment, he realized he had two choices to escape his current predicament: either disperse the smoke around them, or catch Alex the moment he struck again.
Due to Alex's relentless attacks, though, he didn't have the time to properly deal with the smoke. Besides, even if he managed that, Alex could instantly restore the cloud, so he opted for the second option.
The very instant Alex's leg connected against his opponent's solar plexus, the latter tanked the kick and went to grab his leg, its grip so firm that Alex felt as if his bones were being squeezed by steel.
Then… there was no then.
Alex suddenly felt a sharp pain, as if his bones were straining to shatter, and the next thing he knew, his body was being hoisted into the air after having been embedded into the ground. In that brief moment, he realized that the bastard had jammed him deep into the concrete, using his body as a pivot to propel itself for an even more devastating strike.
The ground below them exploded into debris and dust, the force of the impact so violent that the smoke around them was completely swept away.
Alex's vision turned blurry for an instant. He didn't let that stop him from acting, though.
The next moment, Alex had completely vanished from his opponent's vice-like grip, leaving the latter visibly shocked.
Meanwhile, Alex appeared dozens of meters away, his breathing heavy.
A moment later, his breathing evened, his eyes narrowing as he observed his opponent preparing to unleash another roar, likely intending to disperse the smoke once more.
'I can't let myself be caught again,' he thought, taking a deep, steadying breath.
He was certain that he currently had a concussion at the very least. He wasn't keen on getting another, which was why he had to resort to teleporting away from the rhino's grasp.
'I've been a bit arrogant there,' Alex sighed. He had said he would go all out against his opponent, but the truth was that he hadn't. He was using all his physical might, yes, but the same couldn't be said for his mana.
The moment he noticed the oncoming beast tide, he had unknowingly held himself back. He knew that if he wanted a chance to stop the tide from ransacking and overturning the city, his mana reserves needed to be at their fullest. In the last exchange, he had forced himself to use the least amount of mana possible. Now, he was quickly realizing that to end this fight swiftly and have enough time to devise and enact a plan against the approaching tide, he needed to truly go all out and unleash the full extent of his current powers.
He took a deep breath and exhaled, letting the thick purple smoke surge back to cover him and his opponent. Somehow, the smoke seemed even denser than before.
After their last exchange, the rhino was already on high alert, so the moment the smoke appeared, he immediately took precautions to dissipate it.
But before he could…
CLANG!
He heard the sound long before a sharp, stinging pain reverberated through his massive back.
'What just happened?' he wondered in shock as he stumbled forward.
The smoke around him rippled, and arms made of smoke surged to grab him. Of course, he easily tore through them—they couldn't hold him for even a moment.
Clang!
But the very next instant, the rhino man felt his vision blur, a searing pain exploding from his chin up through his jaw and down his neck. The strike had rattled him hard, leaving his head spinning and forcing him to stumble again.
Dozens of smoke spears formed, darting toward him from all directions at alarming speed.
He paid them no mind; they couldn't pierce his skin, and he knew it. No, the real danger wasn't the spears—it was the one who had conjured them.
By now, he could no longer sense Arcanor directly, but judging by the impact he'd just taken, the latter had to be close.
"STOP HIDING!" he growled, his voice booming and oppressive.
He raised both arms to strike the ground and disperse the smoke around him—but his arms never reached it.
Instead, his right knee buckled forward, followed moments later by the left. Combined with his momentum, it forced him down to his knees.
'Wha-what is happening here?' he wondered, confusion written across his face.
As he became the target of a relentless flurry of kicks and punches, the rhino's expression grew increasingly agitated with each passing moment.
Arcanor seemed to be everywhere at once, striking from angles the rhino couldn't anticipate.
Just what the hell was going on?!!!