Ross knew there was no way he could ever defeat Alex at his current level. But he knew Alex well enough to know he would play by his rules.
Moreover, Alexander was the perfect target practice for him to go all out and at the same time use it as a learning moment.
The one-horned didn't know how strong he'd gotten, but he knew what it meant to stand at the top of Class A.
Awakened at that level had the power to obliterate multiple planets at once and bring stars much larger than Earth's star to supernova.
They were that broken or at least when S-Tiers and Veilwalkers were out of the equation. Regardless of what reality was, Ross still directed that much punching force towards Alexander without holding back.
BOOM…!
A thunderous shockwave with red and blue flames erupted from the point of impact, further dispersing the gathered energy for trillions of kilometres. And just like Ross expected, Alex reacted to the blow with almost the same force.
Alex had caught the punch like it was nothing, shrugging off the flames in equal measure. Even the clothes he wore didn't show any signs of burn.
He was completely unscathed.
'Of course he is.' Ross inwardly snorted as he glared at Alex who had a faint smirk on his lips. 'The bastard has surely gotten more powerful.'
Ross yanked his fist out of the grip as he directed a left flaming kick, aiming for the head again. This time, however, Alex evaded the kick and capitalized on the opening, closing in on Ross's side and aiming a blow to his ribs.
The momentum of Ross' kick made it almost impossible to react to the incoming blow. But he had an alternative. The one-horned lit up his body in flames and unleashed an all-round explosion that pushed Alex back, creating some distance between them.
With millions of kilometres of distance between the two friends, Alex and Ross stared at each other, both with smiles on their faces.
"Defeating me is no easy task." Alex boasted. "Are you still willing to give it a try?"
"Depends." Ross shrugged and then made a suggestion. "Tell you what. I'll go all out using my abilities to their fullest while you give yourself a handicap.
"Match your strength with mine. Also, no use of abilities on your side and you must feel the pain of my attacks too." Ross's suggestion was totally skewed in his favour. "Are you still willing to give it a try?" He shamelessly directed the question back to Alex.
"Heh…" Alex chuckled and shook his head. "Aren't you even ashamed of making such a suggestion?"
"You're the Veilwalker, buddy." Ross shrugged as his expression turned serious. "What do you say…?"
"Fine…" Alex agreed with a sigh. But then a thought occurred to him. "Why don't we make this more exciting…"
Alex snapped his fingers and suddenly the space around them began to tremble. The surrounding magical energy came together as they began to condense and take shape.
Ross's eyes widened in awe as he watched gigantic asteroids, some the size of Earth's moon, come into existence. These pieces of space rock floated around ominously, evenly distributed with a lot of room for movement.
"I won't be pulling my punches, buddy." Alex stated, getting into a fighting stance. "This is going to be painful…"
Ross swallowed hard as he eyed the rocks around. He knew why his friend created this obstacle filled space.
'Yeah, I did this to myself.' He sighed and then took a moment to prime his mind for what was to come. 'A least he's going to feel the pain…'
Reddish-blue flames lit up around Ross's body, his immediate surroundings warping and twisting from the heat his flames produced. They were hot enough to rival the heat produced by small stars.
The two friends stood off against each other, their eyes sharp and ready. The deafening silence of outer space made the tension almost palpable.
Alex made the first move, taking off from his position with a bang. He rapidly closed in on Ross but the red-head had no intention of staying idle.
Ross flew backwards as he swung his right hand to the side, instantly conjuring hundreds of fireballs around him. These balls of flame rapidly condensed, their size decreasing while their explosive power increased.
The redhead shot the fireballs at the fast-approaching target, their speed just as fast, if not faster than Alex. Knowing what was bound to happen, Alex abruptly made a sharp turn to his left, heading straight for the sea of asteroids.
"Tsk! Where do you think you're going?!" Ross snickered, redirecting the fireballs after Alex. Without hesitation, he bolted after Alex as well.
Alex ignored his words as he flew past the first asteroid blockade, employing evasive manoeuvres to save his skin. However, the hot balls of flame on his tail cared little for the asteroids as they made impact.
BOOM…!!!
The fireballs went off with the force of multiple nuclear warheads, shattering the asteroids into pieces. The resulting shockwave spread out in a sea of intense flames, travelling faster than the fireballs themselves.
The force hit Alex square in the back, sending him stumbling unceremoniously across the void and into the asteroids ahead of him.
"Got you."
Ross grinned victoriously as he pushed forth the other fireballs. He willed them to surround Alex before directing them to close in on him. Then with a clenching fist gesture, he made them go boom.
The redhead came to a stop as he admired the beauty of his firework. Soon, however, a frown appeared on his face. Ross' enhanced senses weren't picking up Alex's presence.
'He's hiding his presence.' The redhead realized, his gaze shifting around for any unexpected moves. 'I wouldn't be surprised if he suddenly appeared behind me.'
While that was possible, he highly doubted Alex was capable of moving behind him without him noticing. And given the handicap he imposed on Alex, that possibility was almost nonexistent.
His thoughts proved correct when a projectile abruptly shot out from the receding flames, heading straight for him. Because the distance was shorter than before, Alex reached Ross in a split second, taking him by surprise.
'Shit!'
Ross reacted on instinct, defensively crossing his arms over his face. Then a crunching sound of bones breaking echoed in the void as Alex delivered an apocalyptic level punch at Ross, sending him across space and into multiple asteroids.
He didn't hold back.