Revenge: A Path of Destruction
Chapter 90: Alex vs The Earth Patriarch (11)

Chapter 90: Alex vs The Earth Patriarch (11)

The world seemed to still.

From opposite sides of the shattered battlefield, Alex and Khepri stood—silent, weapons at the ready, eyes locked in a deadly conversation that no words could capture.

A faint line of blood traced Khepri’s cheek, glistening against his hardened skin. His fingers brushed it absently, his expression darkening with something almost foreign to him: bewilderment.

How...?

He hadn’t been boosting his body with mana—only strengthening his weapons and subtly reinforcing the surrounding environment to keep the terrain in his favor. Against most foes, it was enough. Against Grandmasters, it was an overwhelming advantage.

Yet this boy—Alex Tyr—had not only kept pace...

He had cut him.

Khepri’s brow furrowed, the weight of realization anchoring deep inside his mind.

This was no ordinary battle.

This was no ordinary Grandmaster.

A slow breath left him.

Enough games.

Khepri shifted his stance. Then—without flourish, without fanfare—he released himself.

The earth trembled beneath his feet.

The air twisted into violent currents.

Space itself cracked, thin black veins spiderwebbing outward from where he stood, the sheer gravity of his presence distorting the very world. The stones around him shattered into dust. The sky above flickered between dull brown and deep gold, as if the heavens themselves were reacting to the force that had been unleashed.

The gauntlets on his arms thrummed with power, glowing with deep earthen runes. His khopesh and shield, already formidable, now pulsed as if alive, energized by the ocean of mana pouring from his core.

Across the wasteland, Alex watched without flinching.

Lightning crackled faintly under his skin, but he did not yet move.

Instead, he whispered low, almost inaudible.

"Nova."

"I know, sir," Nova replied sharply inside his mind. "Full release authorized."

The next second—

BOOM!

Alex’s aura exploded outward.

Golden lightning ripped through the air like celestial chains snapping free. The ground at his feet blackened and split in radial patterns, as golden arcs danced violently across the field. The very atmosphere screamed as thunder and pressure converged, creating a dome of crackling force around him.

Their mana met halfway between them, colliding like tidal waves crashing head-on.

Wind howled.

The land groaned under the strain.

And neither side gave way.

Khepri’s eyes widened slightly, his shield arm tensing as he leaned into the collision.

This isn’t possible.

A Grandmaster should have collapsed under the first breath of his true aura. They should have been crushed, driven to their knees by the sheer gap in power.

Yet here was Alex Tyr—not only standing but actively contesting him.

The world around them blurred at the edges, two forces so intense they reshaped the very battlefield with every breath.

Khepri lowered his khopesh slightly, his voice low, cutting through the wailing winds like a blade.

"You," he said, his tone hard with rising respect, "So this is what a demi-god talent can do."

Across from him, Alex only lifted his katana slightly, pointing it toward him, the golden lightning dancing along the blade like a living spirit.

He said nothing.

He didn’t need to.

Because his body, his will, his very presence already screamed the answer:

I will not lose.

----

From opposite sides of the broken wasteland, Alex and Khepri launched themselves forward once more — weapons clashing with the fury of collapsing stars.

CRACK-BOOM!

The very atmosphere detonated as they collided, the ground beneath them shattering into a crater hundreds of meters wide. Boulders the size of buildings were launched skyward, torn apart mid-flight by the wild, uncontrolled energies tearing across the battlefield.

The force of their battle sundered the earth itself.

Fault lines ruptured underfoot.

Entire slabs of stone were ripped from the bedrock, spinning through the air like monstrous shrapnel.

Alex moved like a golden storm, every step leaving behind blackened scorch marks on the ground. The air around him shimmered with heat and electricity, distorting like a mirage as he danced around Khepri’s earth-forged onslaught.

Khepri towered amidst the chaos, an immovable god of war.

He stomped the ground—

THOOM!

—and the terrain answered, forming towering waves of earth that crashed toward Alex like tsunamis made of stone and iron.

Alex blurred between them, katana flashing as he carved paths through the advancing walls, only for Khepri to summon more.

Spikes erupted under his feet.

Giant hands of stone clawed from the depths, trying to ensnare him.

Obsidian boulders rained from the fractured sky, aimed to pulverize him.

Still, Alex advanced, lightning wrapping his body tighter, his mana burning hotter.

Each slash of his blade cut not only through stone — but through the very will Khepri poured into the earth.

Every collision between them sent another shockwave hurtling outward.

Stone hills crumbled in the distance.

The dead Forests at the far edge of the battlefield caught fire from the intensity of the unleashed energy, black smoke rising into the skies.

The world bled.

And still, neither gave ground.

Khepri roared, the sound deep enough to rattle the bones of any who heard it, and slammed both hands into the ruined ground.

A new force erupted —

Columns of molten stone shot upward like volcanic geysers, filling the sky with blazing pillars of earth and fire.

Alex darted through them, golden afterimages trailing behind him.

He vaulted off one flaming column, redirecting his momentum mid-air, blade drawn back—

CLANG!

His katana met Khepri’s shield in a deafening clash that split the very air apart.

Both fighters were thrown back by the force, skidding across the ravaged earth. Massive trenches dug themselves under their heels as they fought to remain standing.

Dust blanketed the battlefield in thick, suffocating clouds.

Yet even in the gloom, their manas shone like beacons — one golden and crackling, the other deep brown and rumbling, locked in a relentless struggle.

Khepri breathed slowly, staring across the ruined landscape at the boy who refused to fall.

At the boy whose will refused to break.

The ground around them was no longer recognizable — just endless, crumbling ravines, shattered plains, rivers of molten earth cutting bloody scars into the world.

This battlefield, once the proud domain of the Thunder Wolf, was dead.

And even if the land somehow survived... it would never be the same again.

Khepri gripped his shield tightly, dirt staining his armor. His voice rumbled low, barely audible over the howl of the dying wind:

"Seems like I need to take this battle seriously,"

"You have made your statement, I will do the same."

Alex said nothing.

He only raised his katana again — golden lightning screaming silently from its blade.

The battle wasn’t over.

It had only reached its next, deadlier stage.