Revenge: A Path of Destruction
Chapter 89: Alex vs The Earth Patriarch (10)

Chapter 89: Alex vs The Earth Patriarch (10)

Alex reached behind his back the moment after Nova’s clearance flashed across his interface.

His fingers wrapped around the hilt of the katana—the weapon that had waited patiently in its sheath during the earlier confrontation, humming quietly with restrained violence. With a smooth, deliberate motion, he unsheathed the same blade he had used against the Thunder wolf.

The blade sang.

A soft, vibrating hum—barely audible, but deep, resonant, like thunder rumbling in the bones rather than the ears. The moment the katana was exposed to open air, the space around it wavered. Reality bent slightly, like heat distorting the air on a scorching plain. The ground beneath Alex’s feet cracked faintly with the pressure radiating from the weapon.

Khepri’s eyes sharpened.

He hadn’t moved from his place in the sky, still standing there like a sovereign gazing down at a challenger far beneath him—but now, a subtle change colored his expression. His brows furrowed, his jaw tightened. The blade wasn’t ordinary.

Far from it.

He could feel it—that unnatural pull, a distorted frequency emanating from the katana, whispering of something ancient. Something forged not merely with skill, but with intention. With meaning. With malice.

This weapon... was dangerous.

"So be it," Khepri muttered under his breath.

He no longer saw a boy clad in theatrics and lightning. He saw a problem—one that required the full weight of his authority.

With a simple thought, Khepri opened his space storage. A subtle ripple of earth-elemental energy spread around him as three distinct objects floated into the air and then locked into place across his body:

His gauntlets, thick, blackened gold, etched with the shifting runes of the Earth God himself, were more an artifact than mere weapon. As they fastened tightly over his forearms and hands, runes glowing dimly with ancient power.

His khopesh, curved and cruel, its obsidian-metal edge shimmered with crystalline veins of hardened mana. It wasn’t ceremonial. It was a reaping blade, forged for war.

And finally his round shield, broad, spiked at the edges, built from an alloy unknown to modern crafters. It thudded against his arm with an ominous finality as it locked into place beside the gauntlet.

He lowered slowly to the ground, boots touching down with a force that fractured the dirt beneath him in a spiderweb pattern. Dust swirled at his feet, curling up in reverence.

Khepri exhaled, and the aura of a Legend-rank warrior fully armed began to leak into the world.

"Be grateful," he said calmly, eyes locked on the black-clad figure before him."I will be using my main weapons against you."

That was all the warning he gave.

Because the very next moment—

Alex vanished.

Not blinked, not stepped, but vanished.

The golden afterglow of lightning sparked in the air where he had been standing, but the boy was gone, dispersed into motion too fast for the untrained eye to track.

And for the first time since arriving, Khepri’s eyes widened ever so slightly.

CLANG!

Sparks exploded like miniature suns as metal met metal. Khepri’s shield came up just in time, catching the full force of Alex’s descending katana. The ground trembled beneath the impact. A golden shockwave burst outward, tearing loose dirt from stone, as thunder cracked inside the pressure of the blow.

Khepri’s heels dug trenches into the earth as he skidded backward from the force, his shield arm groaning under the weight. The kid was faster than expected.

Too fast.

But there was no time to think.

Khepri countered immediately, pushing off with a surge of earth mana that reinforced his boots, launching himself forward. His khopesh arced brutally toward Alex’s side, moving like a serpent of solid death.

CLANG!

This time, it was Alex who blocked, the blade of his katana screaming against the khopesh’s curve. Golden lightning crackled along the edge of his weapon, pushing back the earth energy vibrating off Khepri’s weapon like a grinding saw.

They separated for half a second.

Then—

They clashed again.

Blade against blade. Shield against the strike. Lightning met Earth, thunder met tremor.

The katana sliced low, weaving like a ribbon of golden light, but Khepri twisted his body with godlike grace, parrying the khopesh and then slamming the shield forward. Alex spun sideways, riding the momentum, and retaliated with a lightning-infused kick that struck the shield dead center, releasing a shockburst that echoed across the battlefield.

The force sent Khepri back three meters.

But he didn’t fall.

His gauntleted hand slammed into the earth, sending up a pillar of rock that burst toward Alex’s position like a geyser. Alex blurred sideways, reappearing mid-air, using lightning to hover for a second, then dove with a single, precise slash, his katana glowing like a second sun.

Khepri roared, his aura surging.

He raised his shield to intercept—but his whole body skidded from the blow this time. Dirt exploded beneath his feet. The sheer pressure behind that one strike...

This boy...!

He’s keeping up with me?

Khepri didn’t have time to verbalize it. Alex was relentless.

The young man closed the distance again with three rapid steps, each leaving a crack in the earth. The katana danced in his hands—a blur of precision, cutting arcs that seemed chaotic and surgical. Every swing was amplified by thunder, like the weapon itself was roaring for destruction.

Khepri met the flurry with calculated force. His khopesh glowed with an amber hue, earth-elemental mana thickening around it like layered steel. He parried two strikes, ducked the third, then rammed the shield into Alex’s chest with a burst of strength.

Alex flipped backward, landed on one hand, and launched back with blinding speed, dragging his katana low in a rising arc. Khepri twisted his shield in a circular motion to deflect—but the tip of the blade grazed his cheek, drawing blood.

Time froze for a breath.

Khepri blinked.

He touched the thin red line on his face.

He bled.

From a Grandmaster.

His blood boiled with fury—but also... admiration.

Khepri’s jaw clenched, and the ground beneath him suddenly convulsed. Giant stone spikes erupted, chasing Alex like fangs from the earth, trying to pin him down. Alex sprinted across the tops of them, each step followed by a small crackle of golden lightning that shattered the stone on contact.

From above, Khepri descended like a god of war, shield raised, khopesh drawn back.

Alex met him in mid-air.

CLANG—BOOM!

Their weapons collided with an impact so violent that a crater formed below them. Lightning and earth exploded into the sky like dueling dragons. The shockwave pushed back even the clouds.

Dust swallowed the battlefield.

Silence followed, thick and humming.

Then—two figures burst from the haze, weapons singing once more.

Neither yielded.

Neither spoke.

Their battle was no longer a test.

It was a storm. A reckoning.

And this was only the beginning.

Search the lightnovelworld.cc website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.