CHAPTER 180

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[Alex Walker POV]

Thor had won.

Unconventionally.

But had like everyone before him, earned our team a victory.

Now, it was my turn.

I wasn't sure what to expect.

But I knew it was nothing good.

Reinhard had been very clear, even with Thor's powerup, we were out of our league when it came to the last contestant.

And while Reinhard was an enemy, I couldn't bring myself not to believe him.

Which meant, if Morpheus was truly stronger than him than Reinhard, stronger than Thor.

I was in trouble.

Thor and his level had reached the four hundreds.

And even then, Reinhard considered Thor below Morpheus.

Meaning, one, he was severely overselling Morpheus, or two… Morpheus was above the four hundreds.

"Well, are you ready? Alex," The Beyonder asked with a wink.

Fucking monster, if I ever live long enough to surpass him, I will erase his ass.

"Not much of a choice," I sighed.

"Good," The Beyonder beamed at me with a smile, teleporting me to the arena as it changed to an urban setting to match my theme, the bastard didn't even let me say anything to my friends.

"Well, I suppose this is fitting, I do live in New York," I muttered with a sigh, cracking my neck.

"So, you are Alex," I heard someone chuckle behind me.

Startled by the sound, I turned around to see a red-haired man around five feet tall, looking at me with a faint smile, he almost looked bored, and dare I say, disappointed.

[Morpheus LV 499]

"Lamentably," I replied, looking at him, frowning at his level. 

He was well above my power, well, well above.

I suppose I will have to rely on strategy alone if I want to survive.

"Are you two ready?" The Beyonder asked, getting a nod from Morpheus.

It's now or never Alex, do it like a bandaid.

"Yes," I nodded.

"Good," The Beyonder smiled, clapping his hands as a small giggle escaped his lips, overjoyed at what was about to erupt, a battle he seemed to be looking forward, "Then, let the battle begin!" he announced for everyone to hear, before vanishing into God knows where.

The moment the Beyonder vanished I jumped a few meters away from Morpheus, as he simply looked at me amused without moving a single muscle.

I frowned.

He was measuring me up.

Good.

I can work with that.

"Requiem: Ark," I muttered, creating a magic circle around him.

"Peculiar," Morpheus mused, touching the magic circle around him with child-like curiosity before it exploded on him, creating a big cloud of smoke and debris. "A vacuum of space? How creative mate!"

It had done nothing? 

"I figured," I cursed under my breath, readying my next spell, and currently my strongest one, [Mana Reaver], a spell that consumes all of my mana to create the equivalent of a magical nuke that affected everyone but the green dots on the map.

"That feels powerful," Morpheus whistled, pointing at my spell as it charged and morphed, and yet, he didn't move.

Not dignifying that with a response I aimed the spell at him and allowed [Mana Reaver] its thing.

The explosion this time was massive, covering the entire arena, that according to my minimap was around 20 KM wide.

"That had to do something," I muttered, as my mana regenerated.

"Well, it kinda blinded me," Morpheus chuckled.

How the fuck had he tanked that?!

Focus Alex… questions for later, first.

Kill this guy.

"Do you realize how our strengths differ?" Morpheus inquired, cocking his head to the side with a wild grin.

"Fuck you," I cursed with a smile, after all, if my power alone wasn't enough to harm him, it was time to use the stones, after all, The Beyonder never said anything about not using them, his fault, not mine.

And fortunately for me, my level now allowed using two stones at the same time.

"Rude," Morpheus pouted, as I equipped the time stone and the power stone.

"I said," I muttered, accelerating time around me to move behind him in the blink of an eye, as I charged my fist with the power of the power stone punching the bastard with the strength to fuck a planet, "Fuck, you," 

The attack sent Morpheus flying across the arena, living nothing but blood behind his wake. Which alone was surprising, I had attacked him with enough power to destroy a planet, the energy I had channeled from the stone to my fist was enough to vaporize a planet around earth's size, and yet, he was still in one piece.

"The Infinity Stones," The Beyonder chuckled, "I was wondering when you were going to use those, pretty jewels, useless, but pretty,"

I frowned, the bastard was expecting me to use them, meaning, he made Morpheus strong enough to take some hits from them.

"Well mate, I'll be the first one to admit, that hurt like hell," Morpheus chuckled, teleporting in front of me. "My turn?" he added, tapping my chest.

"What-" I fell to the floor, vomiting blood.

He had exploded my heart and everything else inside my chest with a simple tap.

"How was that? Be honest," Morpheus asked with a smile, kneeling to my level. "Any feedback will do,"

Fuck this!

Growling, I punched Morpheus once again with the full might of the power stone, as I used the time stone to accelerate my already stupid healing factor.

"Note to self, don't let the little bastard touch you," I cough, regenerating organs was not a pleasant experience, even if all it took was half a second.

"Like this?" Behind me!?

Without a second thought, I moved using the time stone to accelerate my moves, creating some distance between Morpheus and me, sadly, I didn't manage to avoid his touch completely, he graced my arm, and the entire thing exploded.

"Fuck!" I cursed, using the time stone once again to accelerate my healing, regrowing the arm in less than a second.

"I see my error," Morpheus chuckled, "My first attempt should've been your head, don't worry though, I will remedy that," he added with a sadistic grin.

"Your second mistake was thinking I was about to give you a second… third chance to touch me," I shot back, if he wanted war, he would have it.

It was time to use the time stone and the power stone at max power.

"Oh," Morpheus smiled, clapping his hands. "I can't wait to see how you stop me," he grinned.

I sighed.

I didn't like using both stones at full power at the same time but seeing how the little bastard had me on a corner, I had no choice, but to buckle up, and try my best.

So, I took a deep breath, allowing both of the stones to fully integrate with my power.

[Future Vision Activated]

[Accelerated Aging/Healing]

[Accelerated Mana Aging/Healing]

[Time dilation shield activated]

[Power Stone Aura Activated]

[Power Stone Energy Absorbtion Activated]

"Well, here I go," I sighed, moving behind Morpheus in a blur of motion. Blasting him with a beam of pure destructive power from the power stone itself.

"That hurt!" Morpheus chuckled, trying to attack me.

However.

I was prepared, I had seen his attack coming, a few thousand times, from a few thousand different angles, meaning one thing, that attack could no longer reach me.

"Bye," I muttered, dodging his attack while blasting him away once again.

"You are a crazy guy," Morpheus laughed, "You are aging your body decades by the second," he chuckled, "You will die of old age before you kill me if you keep at it like that,"

I snorted, "I regenerate faster than I age,"

"Hmm, maybe," Morpheus shrugged.

This was going to be an annoying long fight, I just fucking knew it.