The swamp biome the team was teleported to was a realm of eerie beauty and haunting decay, with deep, murky waters stretching as far as the eye can see, their depths obscured by a thick layer of algae that clings to the surface like a sinister shroud.
Green and grey poisonous mists drift through the air, obscuring visibility and filling the lungs with a toxic blend of decay and nausea.
Rising from the swamp's depths were towering trees with massive trunks, their twisted roots plunging into the murky waters below, with the canopy above densely braly letting the light through, casting the forest floor into twisting shadows and an eerie gloom.
Alex and the team could be seen following the lead of a small creature that had thin dark fur and vibrant white and yellow eyes.
"Hey te, you sure this is the laire of the swamp wyrm," Andrei asked, the small Mire raccoon walking who was in the lead.
"The entire left side of Exnora Wetlands is the territory of Voraxus, the Pestilent Scourge, while Arachneva, the Toxic Enigma, dominates the right side, so knowing their perfect location is not possible, but I can find the Scourge in some time," The meek voice of the creature sounded, amidst the noises of the swap.
"You have been saying this for the past hour," Andrei said, not sounding pleased.
The Mire raccoon was the hunting dog Alex forced into submission, and with strength being early stage fifth Rank, it was by no means weak or slow, and following him, the team was covering a couple of kilometers of the area every ten minutes.
Andrei was frustrated because, after two days of doing nothing but grappling with his brothers and pushing his body in the training chamber, he was itching for the thrill of battle, but Alex stopped him from wasting his energy on useless battles and told him to save it for the clash against creatures that mattered and would also be the biggest challenge.
There were only two hundred 7★ creatures that were divided between 84 teams, and while all creatures were wild and not leaders of native clans, even then, not only were many of them hidden in the most hidden location, but there were also creatures that Alex and the team will need to go all out to have a chance of killing making them off the list of targets.
So, there were only so many targets for the team to hunt, and while barely a few could compete with Alex and the team in speed, they couldn't hope to go from one biome to the other when the island landmass stretched for thousands of kilometers."Team, get ready for battle because our search has ended," Alex said, as he saw the enormous red aura moving through the murky waters of the swap like a guided missile toward their direction.
"Finally," Andrei said, as his body began to morph into the insectoid form that gave him the best defense and resistance to elements, especially the poison.
Venedikt was quick to use his space manipulation to teleport Saahira and the raccoon far back, as he himself appeared high in the air, with his eyes set on the presence he felt zooming toward them.
Alex used the combination of his strengthing skills, not forgetting to use the Chrono Sanctuary skill first to ensure none of his skills go on cool down, not going light knowing the opponent was pushing the limits of the Sixth Rank and was by no means someone he could take lightly.
Andrei's sets of wings became a blur as he swiftly moved back, where Alex stayed rooted in his place but threw one of the space knives back into the air while holding on to the second one alongside his black blade.
The massive creature appeared right under the dense patch of algae without making a sound, his enormous frame releasing a passive toxin that seemed to thicken the consistency of already heavy water, making him move through it akin to a silent snake and creating little to no disturbance.
The silence broke as the massive mythical creature emerged, tearing through the patch of algae, aiming to devour Alex in a single bite, seeing him as the threat.
The creature stood tall as a towering draconic serpent, its sinuous form stretching over a hundred meters in length, with its visage bearing draconic features, absent of horns but dominated by a pointed snout adorned with rows of serrated teeth numbering in the thousands, gleaming menacingly in his massive jaws.
Green eyes, deep and vibrant, peer out from its formidable face, contrasting with the dark hues of its scales.
Its upper body was adorned with dark purple, blackish red, and eroding blue scales, while its underbelly lay pitch dark, blending seamlessly with the shadows below.
"RRRRRRROOOOOAAAARRRRRR"
The creature roared, announcing his presence as he let loose his wild aura, and without a word said, his massive figure blurred with his jaw wide open, his poison-laced teeth at full display, releasing a toxic mist of green.
"Space Aegis" "Space Vortex Surge"
The space before Alex became frozen, acting as an invisible solid wall that the draconic Wyrm crashed head first into, facing some resistance before breaking through it like a sheet of glass, but he was met with a warped orb of space that he took head-
on.
The tens of feet of surrounding space twisted like a whirlpool, releasing constantly growing shockwaves that ignored the majority of the wyrm defense and permeated through his hulking head, stunning him for a few seconds.
Alex's figure blurred as he appeared before the creature's head, swinging the dagger in his left hand and delivering a space slash powered by five million points of mana, delivering an invisible razor-thin slash that ripped open the thick hide and flesh of the creature.
Alex was not done yet, with his right arm becoming a blur as he lunged it back and forth tens of times, each time delivering a concentrated hit that aimed to pierce into the thick skull of the draconic wyrm.
Alex backed away after the concentrated darkness at his sword tip was all used, and like perfectly in sync with his stepping away, Andrei appeared before the serpent sliced open head.
Andrei had his arms raised overhead, holding his two crimson-
black axes high above his head, his muscles bulging clad underneath the chitinous armor, and with a furious beastly roar, he unleashed a powerful swing fueled by his immense strength.
"Ruinov Impact"
Alex watched with a smile as the Beast King, a creature standing at the apex of the Sixth Rank, was thrown back, a massive wound opening up on his skull, making blood gush out like water from a broken dam.
The creature roared in agony as he fell back, his momentary blurriness washing away as he regained his senses, and in an instant, his jaw became wide open, and what followed was a concentrated breath of venom and pestilence.
Alex used darkness manipulation to create a pointed shield to divert the poisonous breath and let it dissipate when he felt the breath ends.
Alex met with the gaze of the being that had a myriad of emotions, yet all of them were being drowned under his rage as blood gushing from his caved and cracked skull dripped down his face.
"None of you will leave this place alive," A deep voice reverberated through the surroundings, momentarily hushing even the lively marsh as the massive Wyrm began to shrink in size.