Primordial Expanse: I have the Strongest Talent!

Chapter 557 Mere B tier

Chapter 557  Mere B tier

'A mere B tier managing to fight me equally in strength…' Caius thought to himself, almost not believing his own words.

He surged his aura forward, with an oppressive, malevolent energy crackling in the air as he strode forward. His beasts mirrored his aggression, their growls resonating in tandem with the tremors of the ground beneath them. Despite their injuries, the scaled monstrosity and insectoid abomination rallied to their master's side, their snarls filled with a renewed determination.

Alex held his ground, Virtue's Edge burning with an intensity that reflected his own resolve. His mind was clear, his focus razor-sharp as he studied Caius's movements. The tide of the battle had shifted, and both combatants were fully aware that the next exchange would determine the victor.

"Come on, then," Alex called out, his tone calm yet laced with challenge. "Let's see if you can back up all that talk."

Caius sneered as he extended both hands, narrowing his eyes. The ground beneath him crackled and fractured streams of dark energy poured forth, coalescing into a swirling vortex of black tendrils. With a guttural command, he directed the energy toward Alex, with the tendrils lashing out at him like living weapons.

Alex moved swiftly, his body a blur as he dodged and weaved the ongoing assault. Each tendril struck the ground with explosive force, leaving craters in its wake. Despite their speed and ferocity, Alex's movements remained fluid and precise, his fiery blade cleaving through the dark energy whenever it came too close.

The scaled beast roared, charging once more with its massive jaws snapping. Alex anticipated the attack, sidestepping at the last moment and delivering a punishing slash across its flank. The creature howled in pain, with its momentum carrying it past Alex and into a nearby tree, which splintered under the impact.

Caius gritted his teeth, frustration mounting as Alex continued to evade his attacks with apparent ease. "You're only delaying the inevitable!" he shouted, summoning more tendrils to bolster his assault.

But Alex wasn't interested in delay — he was preparing his counterattack. As the insectoid abomination lunged at him, its venomous pincers glinting dangerously, Alex pivoted and released a devastating blast of fire directly into its path. The flames engulfed the creature, eliciting a piercing screech as its carapace cracked and blackened under the intense heat. Alex didn't let up, following through with a swift, upward slash that cleaved through the insectoid's midsection. The abomination collapsed in a smoking heap, its lifeless form twitching briefly before going still, never to open its eyes again.

"Two down." He remarked aloud, smirking as he did so.

Caius's expression twisted into one of desperation and fury. His scaled beast, now bleeding heavily and visibly weakened, let out a defiant roar and staggered back to its feet. Caius poured his energy into the creature, strengthening it with his own reserves in a last-ditch effort to turn the tide.

He knew that things had come too far to turn back now, he had provoked and antagonised Alex too much for him to let him go or show mercy. It was either kill or be killed in this situation, and he was desperate to be on the winning side no matter what he had to do!

Alex noticed the strain on Caius, the flicker of exhaustion creeping into his movements. "You're running on fumes, Caius," he said, his voice calm but firm. "This fight will be over soon enough."

Caius roared in defiance, charging alongside his beast. The two moved as one, their attacks synchronized in a final, desperate attempt to overwhelm Alex.

But Alex was ready.

Summoning every ounce of his strength, Alex ignited Virtue's Edge with an eruption of fiery energy that surged outward in a brilliant wave. The sheer force of the attack stopped Caius and his beast in their tracks, the flames engulfing them and cutting off their advance. Alex moved in a blur, his blade striking with precision and speed that left no room for retaliation.

The scaled beast fell first, a final, pained roar escaping its maw before it crumpled to the ground. Caius staggered, his aura flickering as the loss of his last beast drained him further.

Alex stood before him, unscathed and resolute, Virtue's Edge glowing with an ominous red light. "It's over," Alex announced, with his voice cold and unyielding.

Caius dropped to his knees, his aura dissipating entirely as his strength gave out. The fight was over.

Alex took a slow, deliberate step toward him, with Virtue's Edge resting on his side.

"You had your chance." He spoke in a tone devoid of sympathy.

"Now you've got what's coming."

However when looking down at him, Alex strangely noticed that Caius wasn't looking at him with pleading eyes begging for mercy, but instead eyes that betrayed his situation.

"HAHAHHA!" A sickening laughter erupted from Caius and he darted his gaze towards Alex's own with a stare that Alex could only describe as the look of a man who had nothing to lose anymore.

Alex froze for a moment, his instincts screaming at him as Caius's laughter echoed through the battlefield. It was not the laughter of someone defeated, but of a man who had abandoned all reason, all caution. Caius knelt on the ground, head tilted back as his shoulders shook with manic glee.

"You think you've won, don't you?" Caius said between gasps of laughter, his voice twisted and unhinged. "You think this is over? No… no, it's just beginning!"

The ground beneath Caius cracked and splintered as his aura erupted once more, this time a swirling maelstrom of black and crimson energy. Alex instinctively jumped back, his hand tightening around Virtue's Edge as he braced himself against the torrent of raw, corrupt power surging from Caius's body.

"What the hell is this…?" Alex muttered, his eyes narrowing as he studied the horrifying scene before him.

Caius's form began to shift, grotesquely twisting and expanding. His skin darkened, turning an inky black that seemed to absorb the light around it. Jagged, bone-like protrusions erupted from his shoulders and spine, forming a grotesque, spiked carapace. His hands elongated into massive claws, each tipped with razor-sharp talons that gleamed with an unnatural, otherworldly sheen.