A blur of obsidian chitin and serrated mandibles cut through the air. The ant, the very same monster that had once driven Alexander to flee like prey, came crashing toward him with a heavy killing intent.
Alexander didn't think, his body moved on its own.
His clawed arm shot up, scales glinting, and he caught the strike head-on. The impact was thunderous, a shockwave rattling the chamber. Stone split around his feet, but he didn't buckle. Not this time.
A grin tugged at his lips, feral and alive.
So this is the difference…
The ant screeched, its mandibles grinding against his scaled forearm, sparks of mana bursting where their powers clashed. Alexander twisted, pivoted off his back foot, and slammed his fist straight into its compound eye. A spray of black blood splattered on the stone floor.
The monster reeled, thrashing, and Alexander didn't let up.
He darted forward, movements sharper, faster. The red strands of his dragon-flared hair whipped behind him as he wove through the ant's flailing limbs. His mind worked in perfect sync with his newfound strength.
Joint. Exposed. Strike there.
He ducked under a slicing claw, palm glowing hot, then slammed fire directly into the thinner plating of its leg joint. The explosion cracked the armor, the ant's limb buckling under its own weight.
Before, he would've been crushed without even registering the blow. Now he was dictating the flow. Calculating. Exploiting.
But the beast wasn't finished.
With a bone-deep screech, the ant's body glowed faintly and ripples of mana surged through its carapace. It slammed down a foreleg like a falling pillar. The floor erupted, stone shards flying like shrapnel.
Alexander crossed his arms, scales sparking as he absorbed the hit. The shock hurled him backward, skidding across the rock until his heels gouged deep trenches. His arms throbbed. Even with the dragon form, the raw power from the ant made the fight harder.
Alexander's breath came sharp. His mana raged around him like wildfire, but beneath it he felt the drawbacks. His veins burned, mana leaking from him like an overfilled vessel. His vision blurred at the edges not from weakness, but from too much power.
This power isn't mine. Not yet.
He had to use it like a scalpel, not a hammer.
The ant lunged relentlessly, mandibles snapping for his neck. Alexander side-stepped at the last second, planting a foot on its head, and vaulted upward. His body blurred red, a comet of motion.
High above, he twisted mid-air, gathered fire between his palms, and compressed it until it resembled a tiny version of a sun. The chamber lit in searing flames.
"Burn!"
He hurled it downward. The fireball detonated against the ant's back, scales cracking, carapace melting. The explosion shook the ceiling, dust and stone raining from above.
The monster shrieked, but instead of collapsing, it flung its body sideways, smashing itself into the cavern wall to douse the flames. Its resilience made him snicker. The ant was tougher than anything he'd fought.
Alexander landed lightly, chest heaving. His mana snarled around him, but his body wavered.
The ant turned, one eye destroyed, armor cracked, fury radiating off its form. It roared, mandibles dripping with venom. Then it blurred.
Too fast.
The creature slammed into him like a siege weapon. Alexander barely got his arms up before the strike connected. The impact shattered the stone behind him, embedding him deep into the wall. Rock crumbled around his shoulders. His chest caved with pain, blood spraying from his lips.
The scales along his arms was already dimming. His red hair whipped around, already starting to lose its glow. His dragon form was unstable and he could feel it slipping.
Pinned in the stone, body screaming, Alexander coughed blood and grinned through crimson teeth.
If I fight like before, I'm dead. But if I think… if I use everything…
His mana was growing more unstable and he felt it slipping away.
I have to end it now