The onlookers cried out in alarm. They had already seen Alex face the lightning tribulation and successfully advance his power, but the real shock had come when they had seen him summon the golden dragon blade.
"This has gotten out of control," Zaxx said bitterly. "I never thought that Alex would be so powerful." He had never liked being in situations where his life was in danger, but he recognized that Linden was facing a much greater risk. Besides, he knew that once Linden failed, Alex would come after him next.
Alex's god-like appearance sent a chill down the spines of those watching.
Linden clutched his badly injured chest and coughed weakly. A little trickle of blood ran from the corner of his mouth, and he wiped it away.
Alex, however, was just warming up, and he was enjoying Linden's discomfort.
"I'm not finished playing with my sword yet," he taunted. "You look pitiful, Linden."
Linden felt humiliated, and he grew enraged. He stood up and gathered all his remaining power in his right hand, preparing to launch a vicious attack.
Alex's expression didn't change much. He merely gripped his golden blade and raised his eyebrows while he waited for Linden's next move.
Linden was also a golden core warrior. Although he had lost over half of that power, he was dangerous enough that Alex couldn't let his guard down. His own strength was largely due to the massive gains he had made when he had passed the lightning tribulation. He knew that the extra strength was temporary and that he couldn't waste any more time with Linden.
So he decided not to wait any longer for Linden to muster his strength. He funneled a large portion of his own power into the golden blade, and then he slashed at Linden with all his might.
Linden cried out as he tried to summon a shield from his power. But Alex was too powerful, and the shield collapsed instantly, injuring Linden further.
He collapsed on the ground and lay there with his arms wrapped around himself. He could feel his energy draining away. The force Alex had hit him with had been enough to tear the entire universe apart.
Is Alex even human? Zaxx thought. How could he have access to so much power? Perhaps he truly is a god reincarnated.
He cursed inwardly. He knew that he was probably suffering from internal injuries from when he had barely escaped his spaceship when Alex had destroyed it. As a result, he had to hide inside a protective barrier and could only watch helplessly as Alex walked toward Linden with the golden dragon blade in his hand.
Everyone else held their breath and watched the scene without blinking. Each of them saw their own life as too important to risk by attempting to help Linden.
Alex smiled as he looked at Linden lying on the ground, unable to get up. His grin grew bigger.
He stepped forward and said, "I thought you wanted to kill me. What went wrong? I'm pretty sure you won't be able to do much from down there."
He didn't normally get upset over petty grievances, but he felt that Linden had been truly hateful and needed to be brought down a peg or two.
Linden clenched his fists, but his exhaustion showed on his face. He no longer had the energy to argue with Alex and just wanted a quick death.
"Just do it," he said through gritted teeth.
Alex's mouth curved into a smile, and he lifted the sword. Everyone shuffled around nervously as they watched, realizing he was going for the kill.
Linden closed his eyes, indicating that, although he was a powerful man, he had accepted his fate.
The look in Alex's eyes was as cutting as the edge of his blade. He continued to pour his energy into the sword, and it started to flame as he spoke.
"Do you have any last words?" he asked.
Linden turned his head sideways to avoid the flames emanating from the blade that was being held only a few feet away from his face. The heat was making his existing wounds bleed profusely.
"I took my chance, but I didn't expect you to be so powerful," he said. "What will be, will be."
He had expected this day to come; he just hadn't expected it to come quite so soon.
Alex lifted his weapon and swirled it in the air, merging all the magical symbols together.
Thunder rumbled, and the sky darkened.
Alex smirked, and then he swung his blade down with substantial force.
As the sword slashed through the air, the surrounding space seemed to shatter, and visible waves of energy scattered in all directions. It was an amazing sight.
Just as the sword was about to hit Linden's body, a man clothed entirely in black appeared and clamped both of his hands tightly around the golden dragon sword. The blade was still flaming, but it didn't seem to hurt him at all.
There was a collective gasp of surprise. No one knew who this newcomer was.
Linden was similarly stunned and raised his head slightly to see his savior.
The black-clothed man stared at the blade in Alex's hand. His expression was steely as he held on tightly, but he didn't try to attack.
The two of them were locked in a stalemate.
"Who are you?" Alex finally asked, speaking in a low voice to keep the conversation private. "And why did you save him?"
"You don't need to know that," his opponent said, speaking directly into Alex's mind.
A long period of silence followed, broken only by the whistling of the wind and the rumbling of the thunder.
Alex didn't move, because he still didn't know who he was dealing with. Even though he had just passed his tribulation and his strength was at its peak, he knew that he had no chance of winning against someone at a higher level than him.
The other man seemed to guess Alex's thoughts. The corner of his lips curled and revealed a wicked smile.