Chapter 180: CHAPTER 179 - Alex Vs. Emberclaw 1.
It was harder when it came to the beasts.
Where to strike? What\'s the weak point? Would it die, or will it get enraged?
Many unpredictable factors come into play when we go for the beasts.
However, be it the beasts or the humans, there\'s one thing that will always be their weakness—their insides.
No matter how strong one is on the outside, it would always be soft from the inside; rather, the harder one is from the outside, the softer one is on the inside.
A strong exoskeleton is needed to protect the soft organs, after all.
That\'s why, as soon as the beast, unable to take the pressure, fell to the ground, roaring in protest, Alex took out his spear.
He was under the effect of Tidal Dash, so having his speed elevated, he quickly placed the appear inside the mouth of the beast, who tried to close its jaws in a hurry, only to have them pierced.
*Pierce*
"GRAAAHHHHHH!!!"
As the pain struck the beast, it roared. It had pain tolerance, but that was only for the outside, not the inside.
The beast was big, but the thing that was the largest part of its body, other than its tail, of course, was its jaw; it could open 2 meters wide, just perfect for Alex\'s spear to fit in.
Just then, it wiped its tail, aiming for Alex, who was trying to retrieve his spear, only to see him jump back in a hurry.
"Grraa..."
Alex and the beast stared at each other with caution in their eyes. By now, even the beast knew that this human in front of him was strong—way stronger than any human it had killed.
It moved its front claw, pushing the spear out of its mouth.
*Clatter*
It fell to the ground, and fresh, dark red blood started to pour out of the bloody holes the spear had created.
But the beast missed a major point: it moved its eyes away from its enemy, and right after that, it lifted one of its legs, leaving itself open to its enemy.
It was a beast—one that rarely felt any pain—so the first thing it wanted to do was to get rid of the things that were causing the pain. It was just momentary, but it shifted its focus, and that was enough for Alex to jump toward the beast.
\'Hydra slash.\'
Alex muttered inwardly as he slashed the sword right at the beast\'s open jaw, hoping to do the beast more harm.
"Grrr..."
The beast, however, wasn\'t falling for the same trick again. It quickly shut its jaw, and the slash of water hit its exoskeleton.
*Slash*
The slash was sharp and heavy, a testament to how powerful the short sword was, pushing the beast back while leaving a deep gash on its head.
"Grrrr..."
Unlike before, though, the beast didn\'t roar in pain; all it did was let out a groan before it shook its head, whipping off the blood that was about to enter its eyes.
The beast, however, didn\'t stop there; the next second, it slashed its claws.
*Swish* X2
Two slashes colored red and yellow wooshed toward Alex, who, although saw the attack coming, couldn\'t dodge it in time—it was the charged claw attack.
All Alex could do was move his arms along with the short sword in front of him, taking the attack head-on.
*Baam—Crack!*
"Ghhh!"
\'Strong!\'
It was a strong attack, and Alex could feel the bones in his arms cracked in multiple spots as he was flung up in the air.
But as he saw the beast\'s claws gripping the ground harder as bright yellow thunder streaked through its body with increased intensity, he could instantly tell what it was trying to do.
\'Thunder discharge...\'
It was about to use one of its strongest abilities, which would probably take away a huge chunk of its mana, but it was sure that it would hit Alex with this, so it was taking the risk.
<It wants to attack you with the thunder discharge as soon as you hit the ground.>
The AI, analyzing the situation, told Alex what it could think, and Alex nodded his head at that.
\'I can tell.\'
He spoke inwardly, but no hint of panic or tension could be felt from his voice; his brain just kept reeling, thinking of how to make best use of this situation until the best play of events clicked in his mind.
\'That\'s it!\'
The next second, under the beast\'s disbelieving gaze, Alex took the spear out of his storage, turning its head backward, and pushing mana into it.
The beast\'s gaze snapped toward the spot it stood before and it found the spear missing, finally realizing that the last attack Alex let out wasn\'t to attack it, but to divert its attention.
"Gruuhh!"
But it didn\'t care; it just huffed in annoyance and lifted its claw, ready to smash it on the ground.
What if Alex had a spear on him? He would have to land on the ground to attack it anyway—
The beast\'s thoughts were cut short as the next second...
*Boom*
It heard a low, muffled boom, and its eyes snapped toward Alex, only to see his body zooming toward it at a very fast speed.
It froze for a moment, unable to understand what happened, but as the beast saw the spear Alex was holding and the waves and waves of wind that kept being pushed out of its tip, propelling Alex toward it, the beast realized what had happened.
"GRRRAAAA!!"
Its expression contorted in anger, and heat started to rise in the surroundings; heat waves started to blur its surroundings, and its black eyes glared at Alex in anger.
It couldn\'t believe that it was outsmarted by the same species that he had been chewing on since the last day.
It had killed more than 1000 humans in just a single day! Yet! Yet a human was now giving it a hard time!
With its charged claw still away from the ground, the beast jumped back, its speed elevated due to the fireflash evasion it was using, but before it could move more than three steps back...
*Dun!*
A colossal pressure, just like the one it had experienced before, descended upon it, pushing it to the ground.
"Grrrr!!"
It growled in anger as it stared at Alex, who had his spear back in the inventory and the short sword out in the open.
The spear was never meant for attack anyway; it was supposed just so that Alex could surprise the beast. Things were still within his calculation.
It was time to use the main ability of the Tidebreaker.
He held the short sword above his head, his body still zooming toward the beast, and the next second, he rotated his body along with the sword, and...
\'Sea Serpent\'s Wrath!\'
The beast, with eyes wide in anger and panic, glared at the incoming attack, unaware of just how much damage it would do to its body.