Natalia swore that she would come here and teach Alex a lesson for selling her out.
It would be a lie if she's not angry from being betrayed, pushed off a cliff, and getting chased again by the beasts that were rampant due to the Type-4 Beast's awakening, thinking that Alex did that to plead to the other two aspirants for his life.
But her assumption was dead wrong.
She also should've guessed that Alex was not the type of person to plead like that.
Traveling with him made her learn that he was a capable man.
However, the sight before her exceeded her wildest expectations. Not only did she not expect Alex to act this way at all, killing in cold blood, but the other two aspirants were also quite strong, capable of protecting themselves.
From falling down to climbing back up again, it takes her five minutes or even less.
Killing both of them that fast shouldn't be possible.
Despite the feat seemingly impossible, she couldn't disprove that as her eyes were seeing the proof right now. Both the bald man and the other aspirant were dead, the shock and fear in their dying expressions were also palpable.
Standing in the midst of the gore is Alex with both of his arms bloodied.
Crimson rivulets meandered down his arms, resembling sinuous snakes as they trickled onto the blanket of pristine thick snow below. However, amidst this gore tableau, Natalia's gaze fixated on an unexpected glimpse of Alex's face, partially obscured as it inclined downward.
A light smile can be seen etched on his face, fixing his gaze on his bloodied arms.
But the sight made Natalia call him in a hushed tone, "A- Alex...?"
Upon hearing her tender voice calling out to him, he gazed up at Natalia with a light move.
In that very moment, the troubling smile on his face that she had seen earlier quickly disappeared and turned back into indifference. He then paused, maintaining eye contact. And uncomfortable silence dwells between the two.
Only when the tension was at its highest, Alex's lips curled into a bright smile.
"You're back already? I didn't notice you there. Also, I'm sorry for pushing you down the cliff earlier" Alex apologized, bowing politely. He then pointed in another direction, "I saw a beast coming towards us earlier, so I pushed you down. It managed to kill these two, and I was lucky enough to injure it and scare it away"
"Huh... Is that so?" Listening to this, Natalia didn't buy it even for a second.
But somehow, there was an air around Alex that made her hesitant to confront this to him.
Pausing for a moment, Natalia's mind then was brought to the hill formations where she found three of Alex's squad members' corpses. 'I knew that something was wrong from that moment, I shrugged it off because he didn't seem to be the type, but it seems I judged too soon. Guess he dares to do this because our suits and those two's suits were compromised and wouldn't detect if he killed the two directly'
'Wait, does this mean he was the one that killed them too? For what?' She pondered heavily.
Not minding her, Alex turned to head to the spacecraft.
"Stop standing there like a statue. If you don't want to be left behind, then let's go or the instructors will leave us for good" Alex said, waving his hand as he opened the spacecraft's door and took a step inside.
However, his feet stopped when he heard a buzzing sound near his neck.
Alex stopped in his tracks and kept his gaze forward, "What are you doing, Natalia...?"
Giving no warning, Natalia closed in the distance between them and placed her Psi-blade near his jugular from behind. She didn't seem to want to drop the matter and wanted answers that could explain this situation.
"I don't believe a word you said. Did you push me down to kill them?" Natalia asked.
Upon hearing this, Alex repeated, "I told you, a beast did that"
"So those squad members that you said were killed by a Type-2 Beast, did you also lure it to them? Or did you somehow kill them with your own hands too?" Natalia spoke her thoughts out loud, wanting to know the answer. "Are you really an aspirant? Or are you a running criminal...?"
Despite waiting for an answer, Alex remained silent and didn't answer.
But it was when Natalia was about to say something again, her eyes dilated in shock.
Brak!
Alex suddenly threw his head back strongly, hitting Natalia on her helmet, dazing her, and pushing her a couple of steps back. Moving expertly, he swept Natalia off of her feet with his leg and punched her in the guts.
"Kaahkk!" Natalia grunted as she was not ready for this consecutive attack.
Her reverie shattered when a sudden grip clamped around her neck, hosting her off the ground. Instinctively, Natalia coiled her legs around Alex's right arm, leveraging her strength to force his elbow down and thwart his stranglehold.
With a swift kick to his chest, she propelled herself back and free from his grasp.
Looking at her landing about ten meters distant, Alex's lips curled into a smile. "I also don't trust a word you said," he remarked blatantly, his gaze unwavering. "From the way you fight, you're also not an ordinary aspirant. And as for those two aspirants, I'm certain your discord with them goes beyond a mere misunderstanding"
"Both of us are hiding behind a mask, so let's not pry into each other shall we?" He added.
Upon hearing this, Natalia frowned with a troubled gaze.
'He's heavily trained... If he had used a knife instead of strangling me, I could've died there'
Natalia sweated as she realized that Alex could've killed her earlier.
While she was realizing that fact and dwelling inside her mind, Alex suddenly made a move.
"Duck..."
"What...?"
Just as Natalia was confused about what he meant by that, she suddenly heard growling sounds from behind. She didn't look back and quickly rolled to the side realizing that a beast was ambushing her from behind.
Alex clapped his hands together, firing a powerful soundwave, and blasted the beasts away.
Not idling any longer, the two aboard the spacecraft.
"I'll be the one piloting, you sit on the back far away from me" Natalia instructed sternly.
In response, Alex did as she said and stood by the door.
'Well, I'm no pilot. I couldn't fly this spacecraft even if I wanted to, so it's bound to be her to pilot it' Alex shrugged his shoulders, reaching for his plasma pistol. As Natalia assumed control of the spacecraft, he swiftly opened cover fire to fend off the encroaching beasts.
However, Alex wondered if there's a feature that could help him with this in Nanomancy Lab.
It would be great if there was a feature that would help him understand technologies.
Due to that, he decided to ask Nexus about it later.
Soon enough the engine of the spacecraft rumbled and it started to levitate, harnessing the energy provided by the singularity power unit and propelling the spacecraft upwards, heading to the main spaceship that awaits them.
Finding that the beasts were unable to reach them again, Alex shifted his eyes elsewhere.
Glancing to the side he saw the same Type-4 Beast still on the same spot.
Irritated that a huge spaceship was hovering in the sky above the forest that it controls, the Type-4 Beast kept on firing its destructive beams from its horn to the point that the main spaceship was forced to fly to low orbit.
Damn it, we're already near! Alex cursed and clicked his tongue in displeasure.
But then again, he couldn't really blame the instructors for doing this as the force field protecting the main spaceship was already blinking due to the repeated attack from the Type-4 Beast that was strong enough to tear through the force field.
Even in his previous life, Type-4 Beast couldn't be underestimated.
A beast of that magnitude is a massive threat thanks to its unique and destructive ability.
Natalia kept piloting the spacecraft upward and forced Alex to hold on tightly. He was about to close the door, fearing the oxygen would get thinner in a moment, but had his eyes drawn to the Type-4 Beast, leaving him stunned.
Seeing this sight, a shiver ran down his spine as he could feel death staring straight at him.
"Bank right, now!" Alex screamed in urgency.
Upon hearing this, Natalia wasn't responding fast enough, and that made Alex quickly head towards her and push the control stick to the right forcefully, sparking a sharp gasp from her who was not expecting this.
However, in the very next second, the entire spacecraft shakes, and the alarm rings.
As the main spaceship ascended to low orbit and vanished into the clouds, the Type-4 Beast averted its gaze and spotted their spacecraft and unleashed an energy beam which managed to graze the left wing.
Keeping her composure, Natalia focused all the spacecraft's energy to propel them forward.
"Hold on! It's going to be a bit shaky!" Natalia warned.
Due to the shattered left wing of the spacecraft, it started trembling violently, and careened erratically, tilting left and right as it struggled to navigate the turbulent onslaught of air resistance proportionate to their very fast speed.
Reckoning that the spacecraft wouldn't make it to the main spaceship, Alex need to help.
If he didn't then the two would fall back down to their deaths.
Here goes nothing, I don't know if this would work but I need to at least give a boost. Alex pondered as he placed his hands on the cold interior wall, focusing his mana inside of him that was still plenty and robust.
Nodding his head, he then infused his mana to the spacecraft with a rough grunt.
Alex could feel his mana draining rapidly.
But he rather exert everything he had right now than fall down again, so he took a deep breath and infused his wind element into the entire spacecraft, increasing its velocity in the hope of reaching the main battleship.
Piloting the spacecraft, Natalia noticed an increase in velocity but thought nothing of it.
"Gargghk!" Alex groaned and coughed a mouthful of blood.
Forcing his will to harness and extend his mana over the entire battleship imposed a huge stress on his body. He was barely able to do this thanks to upgrading the precision aspect of his wind element, a move that proved invaluable in this critical moment.
"Just a little bit more! I could see the docking graviton light!" Natalia pondered out loud.
At this moment, the spacecraft already pierced the cloud and has space in sight.
It was not that far from reaching the docking graviton light shot from the main spaceship hangar to safely capture them. However, the strain was starting to take a toll on Alex's body as his vision gradually darkened.
Alex could hear his own breathing directly in his ears, and stygian darkness blinding him.
Blood could be seen trickling down his mouth and nose.
However, he remained completely oblivious as his senses were already numb. Only a couple of seconds later, his mind was slowly being pulled away, and eventually, his vision succumbed to the complete darkness.