before the resounding explosion alex caused could settle, the void creatures that were blasted away noticed his presence and charged at him.

no.

they had noticed his presence the moment his figure zoomed across the sky and his spear lit up the sky.

now, with the other distractions out of the way, they pushed through the shockwaves as they charged his way with several others charging up for an attack.

"fuck!"

he cursed as he brought his left arm forward and channelled mana through it. a solid ward of light formed a rectangular shield condensed from his mana appeared before.

*boooom!*

the attacks the void creatures threw his way slammed heavily into his shield and several cracks appeared in the shield.

the resulting force pushed him farther upwards with no place to use as footing.

''shit! my mana is running out!''

his plan was simple; create a mushroom cloud to blind the void creatures and before they noticed him, he would have landed and made his way out under their noses.

and while it had many holes in it, it was the best he had given the situation he was in.

but things never go well.

alex gritted his teeth in frustration at his worsening situation. with no platform to stand on, he was an open target waiting to be plucked out of the sky.

then his shield flickered out of existence. he couldn''t continue injecting mana into it with the little mana he had remaining.

his eyes trembled and his heartbeat raced as he watched the void creatures fly towards him with vicious growls and snarls.

another attack like that and he would have to take it full force. but his armour was basically worthless in its current condition.

''at this rate, i''ll be torn asunder or blown to pieces!''

his own imagination of the vivid imagery of what that would be like scared the living hell out of him.

........

hunter zol watched the tight spot alex ended up in and wondered if he would take on that form again.

even if alex managed to punch and kick most of the void creatures around him, it wouldn''t be enough to grant him an opening.

the worst part?

he was fighting mid-air with no footing. the amount of power he could produce was significantly reduced.

''i won''t be able to shake them all.''

he was already aware of his slim chance of making it out of this encirclement, yet he couldn''t accept dying this way. he had so much he wanted to do for himself and his family!

heck, the very universe was on its way to destruction if things were left as they were.

''this stupid mission wasn''t even all that important! yet here i am about to die a dog''s death!

''i refuse!''

his eyes blared with mana, shining with so much intensity, that it created a flash in the sky.

not fazed by the bright light, the void creatures that were now crowded around him with the others having no room to attack, alex did something unthinkable.

*badamp* badamp*

at that moment, every screech, every growl and crackle of thunder grew quiet to his senses. his body blazed in a blinding light as he gathered every bit of remaining mana, condensed it within himself and then unleased it all.

*boooooooom!*

in a much more blinding light that overwhelmed the darkness of the surroundings, the light explosion spread out in all directions.

the force from the explosion incinerated all the void creatures surrounding him, leaving nothing but ashes behind.

what he did was a risk as he would be left with nothing afterwards, not even energy for simple movements. it was a suicidal attack a hunter with no other choice employed to kill as many enemies as possible with their dying breath.

but alex had no intention of dying.

even then, his spirit was worn out. even if he wanted to continue, he couldn''t as he passed out shortly after using everything he had, both his physical and magical energies.

at least, he ended up killing all the void creatures.

........

the spectators watched in awe as alex went all out, literally, to have a chance at survival. and with the dying of the blinding light, they watched alex free-fall to the ground completely passed out.

but... he won the event as he was the one to survive the longest.