As soon as the last word left Alex’s lips, a silent command echoed from his mind like a whisper in the void.
"Nova. Status."
A soft, chanical hum pulsed in his thoughts—subtle but unmistakable—like the first vibration of sothing stirring. Then, almost instantly, a shimring blue interface flared to life before his eyes. It wasn’t visible to the world, but to Alex, it layered itself like a holographic lens over reality—clean, efficient, and cold.
[SYSTEM INTERFACE - SCANNING...]
Target: Khepri Geb
Race: Human
Bloodline Rank: Higher God
Rank: Legend
Affinity: Earth
---------------------------------------------
Strength: 900
Agility: 700
Constitution: 921
Mana: 850
NOTE: All readings are based on body constitution and surrounding mana. Accuracy: 80%
Alex’s eyes narrowed as he studied the numbers, high and imposing. But not insurmountable. His gaze lifted from the glowing interface and locked onto Khepri himself—calm, unreadable, exuding the steady patience of a mountain that had seen storms co and go.
And yet, Alex spoke without fear. His voice, calm and composed, sliced through the thick air between them.
"Khepri, don’t worry. I’ll be fighting you alone. My bond won’t interfere in our little battle."
For the first ti, sothing flickered across Khepri’s face. A twitch in the eye. A brief narrowing.
Not anger, just disdain.
This boy... this Grandmaster... was mocking him.
To speak like that. To imply there was even a chance. To believe he could fight on equal ground.
He felt the mana rolling off the boy, dense and unnatural for his rank, stronger than any Grandmaster had a right to be. Disturbingly so.
But still...
He’s not a threat to . Not truly. Even with his talent.
So Khepri said nothing. There was no need for words. Not yet.
Because Alex was already on the move.
As he stepped off the tiger’s back—and in that heartbeat, the world lit up.
Golden lightning erupted around him, as it danced across his skin, exploding outward in a violent halo. It surged over his fra like liquid electricity, shifting his outline into a blur. To an ordinary observer, he vanished, seeming to teleport.
But Khepri’s eyes, honed through war and legend, caught it.
The boy’s speed...
And then, the realization hit.
That speed... that’s not Grandmaster level.
A single crease ford on Khepri’s brow. Subtle, but present. His gaze trailed after the streak of golden light burning across the horizon. Then it flicked back to the tigress.
Nyxara.
Should he stay? She could finish what they had co to do?
Before the thought settled, the tigress moved.
With feline grace, Nyxara summoned a mana-oat contract, dropped earlier by Alex. Her claw glowed faintly as she sliced across her pad, black lightning fizzling from the wound. Blood splattered across the parchnt, activating the contract. A silent burst of magic delivered the contract directly to Khepri’s hands.
He took it without hesitation.
The mont his eyes scanned the docunt, the structure was clear.
Nyxara would not attack any person or building within the Earth Domain during the course of the duel.
Khepri turned it over ntally. He read it three tis, seeking flaws, seeking any loophole buried within subtle ink.
There were none.
Simple and direct.
He looked up again.
Nyxara had already lain down, her enormous head resting atop her paws, regal and unconcerned. She watched him with a predator’s stillness, as if she already knew how the battle would end.
Khepri’s eyes moved from her to Thutmose—his heir, his son.
Their gazes locked.
A silent understanding passed between them. A nod was exchanged.
And then Khepri disappeared into the shadows—the air around him bending with his departure—propelled forward with deadly purpose as he pursued after Alex.
----
The world around Alex beca streaks of color and broken ground as golden lightning pulsed through his legs, bursting with each stride. The air itself seed to sizzle and crack under his movent. With each explosive step, he tore through space like a war spear, splitting open the land beneath him.
But it wasn’t just speed—it was precision.
He was channeling the thunder elent. Not rely using it for movent, but compressing it into calculated detonations, like miniature explosions beneath his feet that flung him forward with each release.
A flash of war.
Silent thunder.
Blinding purpose.
He was headed toward a dead place.
The Thunder Wolf’s forr lair.
A shattered wasteland of blackened rock and glassed earth. Its mana had once ruled these lands—storm-wracked and wild. But now it lay silent, a graveyard of storms.
His mind clicked again.
"Nova, what’s your assessnt?"
"According to my calculations, sir," Nova replied, as sharp as ever, "you are strong. However, the reason you were able to kill the Thunder Wolf—without significant setbacks, even though you were a rank below—was that you seized its power."
"You stole its control over thunder, that was its core. Without it, the beast’s threat dropped dramatically."
"Khepri, on the other hand... is not a beast."
"He is not tied to one power; he is strategic, patient, and grounded. He’s stable—unnervingly so."
"Also, his elent is a direct counter to yours."
"If you want to defeat him... You must not hold back. At least 70% of your full capacity must be used imdiately."
A pause.
"If you hesitate, even once—"
"—You might get seriously hurt, sir."
Alex said nothing.
He didn’t need to. His silence was its kind of response. One that Nova understood.
Ahead of him, the ruined land of the Thunder Wolf rose like a broken altar. Scorched, silent, sacred.
And behind him...
He could feel the tremor, the earth answering a call it knew too well.
Khepri was coming.
The Earth Patrician was moving.
His eyes narrowed—lightning danced along his arms in excited arcs.
Then, calmly but firmly:
"Nova. Begin deploynt of Nano Suit."
[DEPLOYNT INITIATED – NANO SYSTEM BOOTING...]
From within his body, a deep, internal vibration stirred—tal and mana intertwining, flooding his limbs with charged nanites. The air humd around him as his aura spiked again, thunder dancing under his skin.
Lightning crackled louder now—not in warning, but in anticipation.
As he sped up even more toward his destination.
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