Rumble!


    Rumble!


    The ground beneath Alex''s feet trembled violently, the rumbling intensifying as something enormous stirred on the other side of the Floodgate.


    The air around the portal grew thick with oppressive energy, making it difficult for any weak willed awakened to breathe.


    Alex took a deep breath, preparing himself for what was about toe.


    The shimmering light of the Floodgate warped and twisted, and then, with a deafening roar, the beast emerged.


    A gargantuan, 25 metre tall bipedal beast stepped out of the Floodgate, each footfall causing the earth to quake.


    Its massive form was covered in thick, obsidian ck scales that seemed to absorb the light around it.


    Its eyes, a glowing crimson, locked onto Alex with a fierce intelligence that would have sent shivers down his spine if he were just a little bit more weak willed.


    The beast''s head was adorned with jagged horns, curving backward in a menacing disy, and its maw was filled with razor sharp teeth that glinted dangerously in the dim light.


    Roarrr!


    It let out another roar, the sound reverberating through the air like a thunderp, making every beast, human and insect within 10 kilometres aware of its presence.


    "Oh god… We''re dead…" Jake eximed.


    He was a student, so he knew about the ssification system that Awakened and beasts had.


    He had seen many Mutant beasts before, even on the battlefield only a few hours earlier.


    But this beast that had just stepped through the Floodgate was not like any Mutant beast he had ever bared witness to.


    "Variant…" He let his thoughts slip, his words catching the ears of the awakened nearby to him.


    When the other awakened near him realised what Jake had just muttered, their faces became pale, and some even keeled up into the fetal position on the spot, hoping this was all just a dream.


    Alex''s crystallised heart pounded in his chest as he sized up his opponent.


    He was right, this was no ordinary beast.


    It was a Variant ss monstrosity, exuding an aura of raw power that dwarfed anything he had faced before.


    The only thing that had evere close was the Variant ss beast he faced back in the Primordial Expanse, but even that couldn''t hold a candle to this 25 metre tall monstrosity.


    ''Focus,'' Alex told himself, forcing his mind to clear.


    He summoned his Phoenix mes, the brilliant crimson fire enveloping his body in a protective, empowering embrace.


    The heat radiated off him in waves, causing the air to shimmer.


    This was something Alex had thought of on the spot, and it seemed to have actually worked as he could feel the aura of mes surrounding him, protecting him from harm.


    The beast seemed to recognise the challenge, its eyes narrowing as it assessed Alex.


    It could tell immediately that he was no ordinary opponent.


    ''It''s time!''


    With a sudden, earth shaking lunge, the beast charged at Alex.


    Its massive ws tore up the ground as it closed the distance in a fraction of a second.


    Alex barely had time to react.


    He dodged to the side, the beast''s ws missing him by a hair''s breadth.


    He countered with a punch to the beast''s scaly arm, the intense heat of his Phoenix mes transferring over as it wrapped around his fist.


    The mes scorched its scales, but to Alex''s dismay, the beast seemedrgely unfazed, shaking off the attack with a growl of annoyance.


    ''It''s scales are much tougher than I thought!'' Alex realised, adjusting his strategy.


    ''If I don''t find its weakness quickly, then this battle will be over in no time. And I won''t be the victor this time…''


    Alex could tell right off the bat that he was outmatched in physical strength, but not so much that he waspletely overpowered by the beast.


    The beast roared again, a wave of concussive force emanating from its mouth.


    ''What the fu-''


    Alex,pletely unaware it even had such attacks, braced himself.


    But the sheer power of the attack sent him skidding backward, his feet digging furrows into the ground as he fought to maintain his bnce.


    ''It seems the beast has some sort of sonic attack, using the sheer power of its voice as a physical attack. This makes things trickier…'' Alex thought as he brushed off the dust and dirt that had been blown onto his body as a result of the attack.


    However, he had only just realised that some sharp metal, probably a shard from a broken de left behind by the previous battle, had also been sent flying towards him due to the sonic attack.


    And it had prated his shoulder…


    ''Fuck…''


    ''Thank god for these Phoenix mes, or I''d be dead already!''


    ''It''s good to see that the regenerative heat effect of them works just as well as it described. But the toll it takes on my energy pool…''


    Alex felt the regenerative heat aspect of his Phoenix mes kick in immediately after the shard of metal had cut a hole through his shoulder and exited from the other side.


    The description of it said that it could even regenerate lost limbs, so healing this clear cut wound shouldn''t be too much of a problem for it.


    What was a problem though, was the sheer amount of energy it took for it to do so.


    The wound had just finished healing, but it had taken 5% of Alex''s total energy capacity to do so.


    And that was after it had received an eight times increase in capacity from perfecting the Heart of the Phoenix technique…


    ''I need something, some way to prate through the beast''s scales…''


    It dawned upon Alex that he couldn''t afford to take many hits like that, or else his energy would be dried up before he could even put up a proper fight.


    Right now the biggest problem for Alex was that the beast''s scales were just too tough, and now that he was once again without a weapon, due to his previous one melting, he was out of options in that area.