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.
'The last time, we failed to mimic it and couldn't pinpoint what triggered it. Will this be any different or will he surprise everyone again?'
His curiosity about the situation grew as he focused his gaze on the display with the intention of not missing a moment.
At the same time, he kept his senses locked on Alex's pod and monitored any reaction that his body might have.
.......
Before his rising momentum could die out, the firsts of the void creatures were already upon him. The one ahead of the others opened its maws wide as it moved to bite Alex's body in half.
'Tch!'
With a panicked expression, Alex brought both hands forward as he condensed his mana to create a gauntlet, one on each hand, and caught the opened jaws of the void creature by its teeth.
But the momentum of the creature sent them further up with the strong winds whipping his ears. He wrestled with the void creature as it tried to shut its jaws to no avail.
Alex's eyes briefly glanced behind the creature in his grip and spotted the other creatures already close by with two more charging for an attack that would be arriving in no time.
With a roar of defiance, he split the maws of the void creature apart splashing its blood everywhere, but to the void creature, that was nothing.
The tissues of the split jaws began trembling as its regeneration kicked in.
But Alex already knew that as his goal was something different. As soon as Alex split the jaws of the void creature, he used his immense physical strength to turn the void creature around as he rotated vertically to change his position.
At the same time, the charged-up attacks were released as they blazed through the air, arriving before Alex.
*BOOOOM!*
But what they impacted was not Alex himself, but the void creature he had in his arms. The creature let out a cry as most of its body was blown away.
The resulting force pushed Alex down and the void creatures that chose physical attacks swooped in to finish him.
"I'm not done yet!"
A claw came from below and tentacles came from his right side. On instinct, he condensed a defensive light around his body as the tentacles slammed into him which pushed him out of the claw's path that just swiped by, missing him by a hair's breadth.
Yet, what appeared to have saved him sent him into the jaws of death, well, almost. Alex had noticed the third that was almost nearby.
And when the tentacles pushed him to the left after it failed to pierce him, he clenched his right fist and then.
*BOOOM!*
With every bit of strength he could muster, he threw a fast and powerful blow that blew the upper body of the creature, but it was far from dead and there were more void creatures to join the fray!
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.