Alex waved his hand, and a fiery-red blade appeared in the air. He swung his staff, and a second long blade appeared, surrounded by mist. Alex swung three more times, producing three more blades, which were colored green, gray, and gold in turn. For some time, the five blades rotated in the void before they eventually fused into one weapon that encompassed all five colors.
"This is the Sword of Five Elements," Alex said as he lifted the powerful weapon.
Without a pause, he raised his staff again and struck out eight times. Just like before, eight blades of different shapes and forms appeared in the air.
"And this is the Sword of Eight," he said. "I picked the technique up from Atlas just now."
He pulled the second sword out from the void and let it float in the air beside him. Then he raised his staff and palm together, and a new saber appeared behind him. This one shone brighter than the others.
"Recognize this one, Dion?" he asked. "It's identical to the one you just used. There's nothing you can do that I can't copy!" The long saber behind him merged with his body and pushed him forward. He noticed fear rise in Dion's eyes.
"That's impossible!" Dion said, his mouth hanging open. "How could you learn our special techniques so quickly?" He felt like he was losing his mind. Whatever power Alex was drawing on was helping him to imitate any move they had made on him. But I'm a reincarnated immortal of the highest power, he thought. Alex is no match for me, so how is he doing this?
Although Alex was every bit as surprised by his new abilities, he could not afford to waste time contemplating them. He assumed that his inner power was continuing to grow, and he remembered how he had always been able to employ martial arts moves after seeing them deployed just once. This appeared to work in a similar way; whatever weapon Dion attacked with, Alex could conjure up a copy of it at will.
Both men nodded, and the identical dazzling blades moved toward each other.
Seconds later, the two long sabers collided. First, they began to shatter from the impact, and then they exploded in all directions. Once the blinding light had dimmed, the landscape below was unrecognizable. There was not a single tree, rock, flower, or weed to be seen. Everything that had covered the area below the explosion was now gone without a trace.
Bernie had finally stopped flying around. It studied the barren land all around, looking dazed.
Elsa, who held on tightly to Bernie, felt her heart sink. Surely Alex can't have been killed by Dion's saber, she thought. He's twice as powerful as Dion. But if he survived, then where is he?
Maya also looked around the open space in disbelief. She reminded herself that Alex was able to draw strength from his golden cores, but she couldn't help but worry.
A minute later, they both noticed a crack appear in the space in front of them. A pair of hands reached out and tore fiercely at the crack. Then, a second later, Alex stepped out from it with two large slashes across his chest. Seeing the horrified looks on both women's faces, he placed one hand on his torso, and the wounds were instantly healed.
"Well, Dion was full of surprises," Alex said, checking the rest of his body for any minor scratches. "He worked so hard on his golden core that he was about to break through to the nascent level. And, for a moment, it looked like things were going well for him. He had a bit of luck…"
Alex trailed off and grinned. Maya and Elsa remained silent, waiting for him to continue.
"Of course, I had some luck, too," he said, shrugging. "It turned into a good old battle, and Dion thought his golden core powers were enough to beat me. He planned to take my cores and make himself even more powerful. He also thought he could get himself to the nascent level, but unfortunately for him, that didn't go entirely to plan."
Alex held out his hand, and both women leaned closer to see a glowing white ball of light float above his palm.
"Just as he made it to the nascent level, I killed him and stole his core energy," Alex said.
"So, Dion is dead?" Elsa asked, glancing up at him.
"Yes, he must be the most unfortunate immortal I've met," Alex said, chuckling. "He died just seconds after breaking through to the nascent level—much to my advantage. Augustus may not have left me anything when I killed him, but this little ball of nascent energy will come in handy at some point."
He placed the ball into his magic storage space. "It's filling up nicely in here," he said, sounding satisfied.
Just as everyone was about to come out of hiding, a large bird-like figure came flying from the direction of the sun. It traveled fast and was before them in an instant.
As it landed close to them, they saw that the figure was human-like in form. The man wore a small crown on his head, from which twelve tassels dangled. His black and red robe was covered in lightning bolt patterns, and all around him, a dazzling golden light blazed. He stood solemnly in the middle of the light, looking at them.
"Alex, it's time for you to die," the stranger said. His voice was as loud as rolling thunder, and it resounded for miles. The clouds above shook and began to tear apart.
Elsa was dumbfounded. She looked at the god-like man in front of her, and with a trembling voice, asked, "Are you Raven? The master of the Thunder sect?"
"You guessed right," the dignified-looking man replied. His eyes sparkled brightly, and his mere presence seemed to tear the sky apart, causing the sea of clouds to churn.
Elsa's heart felt heavy. She had heard of this man's power, and she knew he was a skilled immortal from the divine realm. It seemed impossible that Alex could survive this time.
"As I said, Alex, your time is up!" Raven waved his hand.
From out of nowhere, Edith appeared, getting between Alex and Raven, and Elsa ran over to join her.
Before Alex could react, Raven inhaled deeply, drawing them closer. Then, with one slow breath, he cast them miles away, and all that remained was mist.
"Those two betrayed me and my realm," Raven said. "Rules are rules. I had to kill them."