Gacha Sovereign

"Do you think I have used all my strength?" The mysterious guy smirked.

Alex frowned, wondering if what he said was true or not. 'He is still holding back? But do I need to slow down my pace to study this man again? Or is it just an empty threat? I often used something like this, so my enemy thinks I still have another trump card. Because they will most likely make a mistake in this situation… Still, what if it's true?'

He arrived in a dilemma. Even though they had been fighting for half an hour, their position returned to square one. Of course, Alex had been trying to lure him either to the Ancient Ruin or the army far from here. But none of it mattered because this mysterious guy stopped him from going in all that direction.

In fact, it was the one that seemed to be restricting him from going all out. Yet, if that guy were holding back this whole time, he would lose sooner or later.

A thought suddenly came across in his mind. It was a simple but daring plan, but Alex couldn't contain his smile.

The guy squinted his eyes upon that smile. 'Does he have another trump card too? Or that smile is only to bluff me and make me think he has one?'

When two smart men doubting each other was the time mind battle began.

Nevertheless, his objective didn't change. He stepped forward and slashed his sword. "Blade Rite."

Alex looked at this incoming attack along with the pressure it brought. He took a deep breath and jumped forward with both hands in front, making the other guy think he would destroy the Sword Wave.

'He is going to destroy that attack? There is only one technique that he can use to destroy that… Wait! No, he is not going to destroy it. He is…' When the mysterious guy thought of it, he became aware of Alex's real plan.

A Spatial Gate appeared before Alex, swallowing his attack. The guy immediately raised his guard to search for the incoming attack and returned its time.

However, Alex smiled as he summoned five Spatial Gates in his surroundings, confusing him as to which one would summon his attack.

'Which one? No. I shall cut everything!' The guy gritted his teeth and used his Blade Rite again, cutting the five Spatial Gates into half before lowering his vision. He found out Alex was summoning another Spatial Gate for him to go through. 'No, you won't!'

"Acceleration!"

The guy stomped the ground and released his full speed, heading toward Alex to prevent him from escaping.

It was at this time, he suddenly felt a fluctuation of Spiritual Energy above him and realized it was a trap all along.

Alex left the control of his Spatial Gate and slashed his sword, sending a Sword Wave that cut through his own Spatial Gate. At the same time, the guy's Blade Rite appeared from above. Without anyone realizing it, the two dragons from Alex's Swallowing Heaven also made their appearances from left and right.

'With this, he shouldn't be able to escape. The only way to escape is…' Alex glanced and disappeared.

The guy, on the other hand, looked at his surroundings. His current speed didn't allow him to stop and change direction. In fact, this must be Alex's scheme by trapping him with those five Spatial Gates and using his fastest speed to catch up.

However, Alex miscalculated one thing. The guy looked up, finding Alex behind his own Blade Rite and smiled.

"Deceleration!" He forcefully used the maximum output from his Deceleration on himself, killing his momentum almost immediately as if his time stopped for a second.

That technique allowed him to make a very long distance between him and the attack due to his original speed.

Even Alex was surprised by that.

"I found you!" The guy smirked, stepped on the ground once, and leaped toward Alex with his speed.

"!!!" Alex, who was following the guy's movement, had himself cornered once he predicted it wrong. The flame rose =to protect Alex from the incoming attack.

"Paradox Slash!"

The same multiple attacks struck Alex's barrier and armor. At the same time, he made a few Space Plates to hinder that attack while using Space Bind to stop the attack completely.

"Ho?!" The guy was amazed. "Although my attack is not as powerful as yours, this was my strongest attack. To think you have the ability to stop it without your weapons…"

Alex didn't say anything and leaped back. He immediately checked his body. 'Ugh. Sherry and the others just used too much power to block that attack. The Spiritual Weapons also used two shields. I have lost that much just with a single strike… Still, if I don't use it, that attack might become fatal to me. This is turning bad for me.'

'Master… I think I know how to beat him.' Sherry suddenly sent a thought transmission.

'You are not going to say you want to use Hell Inferno to destroy this place along with him, right?'

'At first, I thought of that, but I realized he would be too fast for Hell Inferno to be activated. Hence, I think we still use Hell Inferno.'

'Oi!'

'I know. But I am not planning to use Hell Inferno here.'

'Not here? Then where…' Alex thought for a second and smiled. 'Ah. I see. Thank you for your idea, Sherry.'

'I am glad I can help Master.'

Alex suddenly smiled. "System, use all my EXP Cards to the Spirits. We should have enough for each spirit to gain one level, right?"

[Yes. But are you sure, Host?]

"Yes. Leoz will probably be the closest one to 8-Star. Even if he levels up, there is still 9-Star and the rest of 10-Star. At that time, I should be able to catch up within the next three years since I am confident in raising my cultivation to 9-Star within that time.

"Although I need to learn about Alchemy and Array Mastery, I think I can still reach 8-Star even with all of that training. In the worst case, I can make them leave the Spirit Nest for a bit, so they don't get any EXPs.

"And I believe this fight is very important to me. Not only can I scare that person away, even if I can't kill him. It gives me time to investigate his ability and identity, so he doesn't harm Rose and Letizia when I leave."

[I understand.]

[Processing…]

[Complete.]

Suddenly, the spirits got a power-up as their Spiritual Energy was filled again. This sudden phenomenon immediately took everyone's breath away.

"What is that? Why did all of them suddenly get an increase in their cultivation base? Increase? Or should I say they have a breakthrough just now?" The men in black widened their eyes.

Although the spirits didn't know why Alex suddenly used the EXP Cards, they still took the enemies before them as their priority, beginning their relentless attack.

It gradually became one-sided because of the shock. Not only that, but they also had used a portion of their power, so it was a bit hard for them to maintain this fight.

When everyone in their confused state, Alex already made a Spatial Gate escape in the real world.

"!!!" The mysterious guy opened his mouth in surprise. As much as he wanted to help his comrades, Alex was still his priority. Yet he realized that if he didn't bet it all here, Alex would surely escape to the Space World. "Acceleration!"

He used his Acceleration to the maximum.

Alex was astonished and panicked. He threw his Spear in panic, hoping to hinder him.

The guy didn't use his Deceleration and let the spear fly past him. Seeing Alex's expression, he was sure that Alex didn't think he had this kind of speed… Only to find that he was fooled.

Alex's panicked expression turned into a calm as he smiled as if everything was going according to his plan.

It was at this moment the guy realized everything was a trap. Alex confused and slowed his train of thought for a moment by that sudden breakthrough. In fact, his people might have hidden their real power to begin with, just like him.

He then turned around and saw Alex appear above his spear using his Space Mark before entering a Spatial Gate. Because of his momentum and delayed thinking, he let Alex escape into the Space World, only leaving him that smug smile of his before he entered.

"No! I won't let him go away!" He gritted his teeth and released all of his Spiritual Energy, and spread it all around the region. Even if this would drain his Spiritual Energy, he needed to grasp Alex first.

This was the reason why Space Beast was feared. They were fighting inside the Space World, where they could see their enemies while the enemy couldn't see them. At the same time, they had their own specialty that made them dangerous.

That was why the cultivators were troubled. Not only they needed to spread their Spiritual Energy and Intent to check their position that would require a huge amount of Spiritual Energy, but their reaction time was slightly reduced because they couldn't see them.

Even so, the mysterious guy was adamant to not let Alex get away. He closed his eyes to find Alex, albeit once again, he got played. When he sensed his Spiritual Energy got reflected, it was right before him.

"!!!" He instinctively raised his sword before finding himself blown away by the power.

'Impossible. That Alexander got me again.' He thought while using his Deceleration to stop his movement, so he had time to react and launched him back up.

Alex didn't let him do so and pursued him. When the guy stopped mid-air, he thrust his spear.

"Mythical Spear Cannon!"

"Tch." The guy clicked his tongue and created a barrier in front of him.

Alex saw a huge amount of energy behind this shield, but he realized that the shield itself had the same energy like his Deceleration. The moment his Mythical Spear Cannon hit the shield, it slowed down to the point the tail caught up, resulting in an explosion due to the crash with its own body.

"What?!" Alex widened his eyes. "That is not a barrier, but a concentrated plate of Deceleration. My Mythical Fire Cannon is like a long stick filled with energy. Because the head was stopped, the butt arrived first and collided. If he could use something like this, I can't use an attack like this again… A Sword Wave… might still be possible."

The mysterious guy, on the other hand, leaped toward Alex and struck him with his sword.

Alex stopped him with his sword, but the other guy had another intention as he smiled and said. "I have found you! And I won't let you go now!"

"…"