Maybe it was a disruption caused by the earlier or the presence of those corpses giving the stench of blood, but Alex found a beast similar to a creature of shadow circling him.
It had a good concealment skill of covering itself in the darkness of shadow.
Alex was greatly alarmed by its presence. The beast wasn't able to properly mask his presence and Alex glimpsed the swaying of grasses in the green patches before him which stepped upon steadily.
Alex got from his place while tightening the grip on his sword.
Waiting for a suitable opportunity, without making any noise, a beast swiftly plunged towards Alex threatening to tear his flesh after making a bloody hole in him.
CLANG!
The sound of metallic claws crashing down over the sword's surface rang out but it was forced to a stop.
A shrill disrupting noise emerged along with the eruption of faint sparks.
No matter how much strength the other party exerted, it was unable to push forward even by an inch.
Alex stared at the figure that leapt out of the shadow. Its figure resembles greatly to that of a leopard except for the colour of its body and eyes which were black along with its beastly gnarly claws which were similar to those disgusting creatures.
Alex was a bit surprised to find the beast here and more than that this shadow leopard looked quite good or normal compared to those ugly hags whose single glance may cause you to suffer a daily nightmare.
The shadow leopard pulled back its paw and slashed both of its claws while pushing more strength from its back legs.
Alex carefully slid his sword to obstruct both the claws that were aiming at his neck. Seeing, its claws were unable to advance towards its target, it opened its muzzle showing its sharp fangs trying to bite off Alex's head and swallow it in one bite.
As it tried to force its way exerting all its strength, Alex kicked it in the chest heavily.
BANG!
It spewed blood and shot backwards with broken ribs.
Alex immediately jumped after it.
The shadow leopard spun its body to regain its balance and raised its paw to attack but Alex's agility was greater and he was a step ahead.
BAM!
Alex dodged the paws in the mid-air by twisting his body and landed on it and stomped it down on the ground and pressed his sole upon it pressing it down.
The leopard plunged to the ground with a loud thud.
It struggled and wriggled to get free after being completely immobilised but Alex's sword directly stabbed its brain, ending its life.
Blood spewed from the hole in its head and the beast suddenly started to disappear.
"It was summoned," Alex murmured. He was greatly alarmed due to the event.
Alex felt something moving towards him. He knew that his senses weren't playing tricks on him.
Alex looked at his map but didn't find anything amiss but his senses that had been sharpened after countless beatings...He meant countless fights warned about someone's presence.
Alex turned his head and felt the wind tearing up.
He got the hint and immediately bent his head back.
Swish!
Something sharp just went a few millimetres away from his neck.
Alex's brows crinkled while looking for that sneaky bastard.
Alex could feel a slight presence but he wasn't able to locate it. It was as if the creature was dead but at the same time not dead.
Alex's hair stood on the skin as if indicating that he was standing at the end of danger.
Instead of using his eyes, Alex tried to feel and focused his attention on hearing.
He immediately stepped back and raised his hand clutching something.
"Got it!" Alex shouted and held a whip-like substance and pulled it towards him and punched it.
DUSSH!
An obscure figure emerged from the ground and shot towards Alex.
Alex turned his wrist and sliced it. The obscure cut into two halves and looked like a piece of black-coloured cloth which dissipates into thin air.
"What is this?" Alex muttered.
He was greatly surprised, and while scanning his surroundings, he tried to look in his mind for any information.
"Shadow Summon."
Certain information clicked in his mind.
Some dark creatures could summon puppets of shadow which they could use for various purposes.
These things didn't have any mana and were intangible existences which cannot be considered living like artificial golems or puppets.
Since they don't have mana, Alex's mana sensor didn't work on them.
"There may be more around and the summoner might be nearby. I must be careful." Alex muttered and increased his search radius while keeping an eye for these shadow summons.
As Alex moved around. He dealt with another two shadow summons who tried to harass him but they were taken down easily.
Alex, who was in a vast plain filled with grass and bushes, unexpectedly found something.
He immediately poured more mana into his eyes and caught the sight of a bald ugly bastard.
This bastard was keeping a tab on him through shadow summon and used them to sneak attack him but failed.
Alex pretended not to notice him while moving around like a fool.
The baldy who waited for Alex to enter his strike zone jumped up like a frog and rushed towards Alex.
He raised his long scythe-like hands with sharp blades at their tip which seemed to be covered with deadly poison which emitted faint fumes.
It was so poisonous that the vegetation around it burned too dark and turned into nothing, creating an empty patch around it.
Alex slipped past the arc of its swing and slipped past his attack.
Moving behind him, Alex struck from the back as fast as lightning.
CHOP!
His sword shot like a whip and beheaded its head.
OOWOWOOWWO!
Alex heard the roar. He found another figure with a slight resemblance to the one that was killed.
"There were more!" Alex murmured, raising his brows.
The sudden voice drew much attention towards Alex and he started to analyse those who waited to attack him after many of its people came.
There was a group circling him who sprinted in between the tree taking cover and peeking at him.
They seemed to be cautious and glared at him while hiding in different spots.
Alex noted their behaviour. This group was easier to deal with than the other ones Alex had fought previously, that's what he thought initially.
They seemed to lack the aspect of having sharp tongues, tentacles, long claws and disgusting sharp weapons coming out from their body as if it was no big deal.
Instead, they relied on external weapons and poison along with a primordial hunting method to corner, trap and take down the prey.
Alex looked at the bushes and tree trunks behind which they stood.
Alex noticed the red dots on his screen but as he increased the radius of the screen, he found more than fifty bad figures and there seemed to be more.
It seemed that he was surrounded by a side.
There were several Epic ranks along with master and Disciple ranks.
Alex always fought conservatively while fighting small numbers. There was no need to one-shot everyone and show off.
In the current situation, he cannot let himself flow in the situation and went on a rampage causing booms and explosions.
And he even didn't know whether he could take down several Epic ranks head-on.
The situation was quite different compared to the time when he rampaged in a war filled with ants.
He needs to be cautious and level headed but before that, he needs to gauge their strengths and weaknesses.
In a way, it was a situation of panic as he seemed to be surrounded from all sides.
No matter how strong Alex currently was, he cannot take hundreds of Epic ranks at once without getting injured if the fight went head-on.
That's not even the main problem as these all were cannon fodder. These weren't the ones who were responsible for all those things outside. The people who were involved in sacrificial rituals might be way stronger.
Alex turned on to observe the terrain. He was now in the plain with few trees.
Two hundred metres from here, Alex could spot dense canopies and a small wilderness. A perfect spot to engage in guerilla warfare, and he just needed to provoke and draw them there.
Alex pointed his sword at them and spoke.
"Since you old baldies are here, give me everything you have got."
