Chapter 94: Bella's Wrath

Chapter 94: Bella's Wrath

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The cultists had just stepped onto the altar when the entire structure began to shake violently. Terrified, they watched as the ground beneath their feet started to collapse. Accompanied by a series of screams, everyone standing on the altar fell along with the crumbling stones.

The altar was located on a raised platform at the front of the plaza, and from its design, it was clear it was a construct of the Abyss. However, no one truly knew its exact purpose. Still, it embodied the typical characteristics of an altar—being high.

This particular altar stood tens of meters tall, resembling a Mayan pyramid. As the collapse began from the top, nothing could escape its destruction. The entire structure seemed hollow, and the first part to fall was the peak where Alex and the six-armed demon lord Bella had been fighting. The surrounding stone slabs and pillars quickly followed, tumbling down, as though the ground itself had opened up into a massive abyss, spreading outward.

"This can't be! Why is this happening?!"

As Bella plummeted, she screamed in frustration and disbelief. She had guessed it was the angel's doing, but what baffled her was how such a weak angel could manage to destroy the altar. Not even a true angel could have completely obliterated such a structure, one that had withstood even the light of the Goddess. How could a feeble angel like Ikaros accomplish this?

Bella couldn't understand it, but Alex knew exactly why. To be honest, Ikaros' combat power was indeed low. If he had to compare, Alex would say she was just slightly stronger than Fianna, who was a novice priest that rarely fought.

But that didn't mean Ikaros lacked destructive capabilities. In fact, as Alex and Bella clashed, he had been listening to Ikaros' report. Even Alex had his doubts, given Ikaros' combat ability… but she had delivered a surprise!

Ikaros had scanned the entire altar's structure and identified its most fragile points!

In other words, this little angel alone had done the work of an expert demolition team!

Indeed, no matter the world, knowledge is power!

Alex couldn't help but feel lucky that he had summoned Ikaros. While she wasn't a great asset in direct combat, her abilities and knowledge were invaluable.

If Alex had summoned a combat-type angel, the only option might have been to charge straight into battle and reach the altar head-on. By then, Bella could have fully resurrected, possibly with even more tricks up her sleeve, leading to an inevitable and grueling battle.

But with Ikaros, not only had Alex avoided the cultists' search, but she had also thwarted Bella's plans at a crucial moment, forcing the six-armed demon lord into a weakened state for battle.

If this entire scenario were a sandbox game boss battle, Alex had essentially received perfect support from a god-tier teammate, sneaking into the boss room and weakening the boss with a series of debuffs. And now, the little angel had even set the stage with environmental destruction!

What an amazing teammate!

Silently praising Ikaros in his mind, Alex seized the opportunity. For Bella, the altar's collapse was unexpected, but Alex had been waiting for this moment!

As soon as the ground began to break apart, Alex dashed toward the six-armed demon lord. She couldn't fly, and Alex already anticipated her next move!

"You bastard!"

Feeling the rush of sword wind behind her, Bella fumed. She couldn't believe she had been outwitted by a mere mortal and a weak angel. The altar had completely collapsed, and worse yet, the formation beneath it, the crux of her plan, had been destroyed. This meant her entire scheme had failed!!

"I'll kill you!!"

Although the six-armed demon couldn't fly, Bella wasn't inexperienced in aerial combat. She turned with a roar, all six blades flashing out in a deadly arc as she struck toward Alex. Bella's killing intent surged, and she was filled with confidence. Earlier, Alex had barely avoided her attacks through those bizarre rolls, but now, suspended in midair, he had no room to evade. Bella was certain she could finally cut this wretched human to pieces!

Clang!!

As Bella expected, this time Alex didn't roll away. Instead, he raised his broken sword to meet her attack head-on. The sword's gleaming edge clashed against two of Bella's curved blades, sparks flying as the impact cut through the darkness. Using the force of the collision, Alex pushed off, leaping backward. Two of Bella's blades slashed past his forehead, missing him by mere millimeters. Had he been a fraction of a second slower, Bella would have already claimed his head.

But that was not the end!

As Alex narrowly escaped, the remaining two blades, like venomous snakes hidden in the shadows, silently emerged, slicing toward him again!

This time, with no more momentum to dodge, Alex had no way to escape the lethal strike midair!

And this—this was Bella's killing blow!

"Die, mortal!!"

As Bella gazed at Alex, helplessly suspended in mid-air, her eyes gleamed with savage delight. She could already picture the gruesome scene of the mortal being sliced in half by her blades, lifeless and broken before her.

But to her astonishment, Alex did not show any surprise or fear in response to her final strike. Instead, his previously upright posture suddenly shifted into a crouched, curled position.

What is he doing?

Boom! Boom! Boom!

In that very instant, with a thunderous crash, a large fragment of the collapsing floor grazed past Alex's body. Had he not curled up, Bella wouldn't have needed to lift a finger—he would have been crushed to death by that massive stone slab!

But what happened next truly shocked Bella.

As the floor fragment barely missed him, Alex suddenly kicked off it, propelling himself forward. His entire form accelerated, transforming into a streak of silver light that cut through Bella's web of blades. In the next instant, the death-infused broken space sword plunged deep into Bella's body!

"Aaaaaaahhhh!!!"

With a piercing scream, Bella could feel her life force draining rapidly. As a six-armed serpent demon, Bella had encountered undead creatures before, but the death energy coursing through Alex's blade was entirely different from the negative energy used by those beings.

This was true death!

"Let go of me!!"

For the first time in her life, Bella felt death looming so close. It was as if the scythe of death had already pierced her body, ready to claim what little life she had left. Overcome by the fear of death, Bella roared and struggled violently. Her serpent tail lashed out, attempting to coil around the man before her. But as her tail wrapped toward him, Alex swiftly planted a foot on her body and pushed off, pulling the sword from her as he leaped backward. Bella's enormous form plummeted to the ground with a crash, accelerated by Alex's kick.

Thud!

As Alex landed on the ground, he exhaled deeply, surveying the scene before him. The area was in utter ruin, with debris and shattered stone scattered everywhere.

In front of him, the six-armed serpent demon lay collapsed on the ground. Her luck wasn't as good as Alex's—when she hit the ground, a large stone had pinned her tail. Now, all she could do was glare at Alex with murderous intent, but she was powerless to move.

"How is this possible?! How did you dodge my attack? What did you do!?"

Bella was utterly confused. She couldn't comprehend how Alex had evaded her strikes repeatedly, nor could she understand how he had managed to anticipate her every move in the final moments.

"What did I do?"

Hearing Bella's question, Alex sighed, reaching up to rub his eyes.

There's more than one way to use time.

After learning a hard lesson from Stone, Alex had largely abandoned the idea of using time to manipulate his enemies, unless he was in the mood for some risky stunts. Otherwise, the potential backlash wasn't worth it. And if he faced an opponent pretending to be weaker than they were, the recoil from time manipulation could be devastating.

But that didn't mean time had no other uses.

If you can't affect the outside world, why not affect yourself?

Glancing down at the bloodied, defeated serpent demon, Alex couldn't help but twitch his lips in a faint smile.

Miss, have you ever heard of future sight?

(End of Chapter)

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