MMORPG : Ancient WORLD

Alex stopped once his domain stretched to nearly three hundred meters, and for a moment, the Blight's domain lashed out in fierce retaliation.

The miasma in the air boiled, the twisted flora and fauna lashed out, and the toxic swamp bubbled violently as the domain fought to purge the encroaching darkness.

While it managed to eat through sections of the darkness, each piece devoured was quickly replaced, the darkness filling in faster than it could be consumed.

Cthux narrowed his eyes at Alex as tens of miasmic tendrils took form around him, expanding rapidly into the darkness to form a thick, choking smog that engulfed the area, casting everything in a mix of darkness and a deep violet haze.

The tens of tendrils twisted and writhed, creating a pulsating, living fog that served as both a shield and a weapon, and using the disturbance to his advantage, Cthux vanished in a flash.

Alex's eyes darted across the surroundings as he slowly turned, picking out the tracks of Cthux as he moved like a ghost, each of his steps barely leaving a flicker in the ocean of cosmic energy.

The single flicker suddenly turned to two, then four, and then eight, continuing to multiply until there were sixty-four individual flickers in the ever-growing chaos of two forces.

The clones were perfect, but Alex could easily single out the real one because of the unique energy fluctuation it gave out.

The clones were still a threat, so Alex conjured a sea of spears, enough to nearly cover his entire domain, raining them down without pause, each one exploding at random, engulfing a sizable area in intense corrosive darkness.

Alex took to the skies, swiftly taking care of the four clones closest to him, while the spear rain thinned their numbers down by another two, with many more taking a direct hit.

The clones did not just stand by, as Alex was bombarded with energy slashes from all directions, while some of the clones closed in only to explode in his face.

While Alex dealt with the miasma and the clones, Cthux chose the perfect moment and made his move, zooming past his back, his dagger gliding silently to decapitate him in one swift motion.

At the very last moment, Alex used one of his domain-exclusive skills, a thin veil of darkness appearing behind him, one that looked like nothing special. Yet, when the dagger made contact with the veil, it began to sink in, like a pebble in a pond.

In a fluid motion, Alex spun around and slashed his sword, slicing through the dark veil like paper, releasing a razor-thin slash of darkness that in an instant traveled a few hundred meters, slicing the darkness and dividing a section of even the Blight domain cleanly in two.

On the other side, the muffled grunt of Cthux was heard as the slash went through his right arm, and what should have been his abdomen. But in a fraction of a second, he twisted it and avoided the fate of having his body sliced in two.

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Alex clicked his tongue at missing an easy kill but stayed calm and raised his free hand, conjuring a barrage of chains ending in sharp, spear-like tips from all directions, aiming to ensnare Cthux and pin him down.

Cthux responded instantly, releasing a concentrated burst of violet miasma that dissolved the chains on contact, disintegrating them before they could even graze him, the toxic essence within the miasma reducing them to nothingness.

Alex countered the miasma with Nihility Purge, all while cutting a path through the cloud of miasma surrounding him, followed by sending a barrage of slashes at Cthux.

"JE, JE, JEEEE," Cthux laughed as he weaved his way through the dark slashes, twisting and turning his body at impossible angles.

"You little pest, I'll make you beg for death," Cthux growled, meeting the attack with a massive clawed swipe. The severed muscles at the end of his hand pulsed and bulged, regenerating with alarming speed.

Cthux moved back, disappearing into the chaotic miasma, while his clones, which swiftly grew back to the sixty-four mark, engaged Alex from all sides.

Alex clashed and cut through them again and again, each exchange ending in a stalemate, and every time he attempted to gain the upper hand, Cthux would slip away. His liquid-like physique, combined with much superior agility, allowed him to easily get away.

Cthux was faster than Alex, and since he was keeping his distance, Alex could only counter and wait for the bastard to commit to the fight, knowing the Skaven was waiting for him to get fatigued.

The battle against a high-level assassin was one of patience, and Alex understood it well, knowing his foe was capable of ending the battle in a single lethal strike.

Cthux would wait for his perfect opportunity for hours if he had to, and if Alex did not want the battle to stretch longer and longer, he had to create an opportunity and make the most of it.

After a few exchanges, Alex suddenly felt a sharp, searing pain coursing through his body. It was as if thousands of needles were piercing him from the inside out, as the pain was growing by the moment, and a quick scan of his internal state revealed the horrifying truth.

Alex saw that tens of thousands of his cells were breaking down, bursting into dead matter that infected other cells, rapidly spreading throughout his body, making him realize that if left unchecked, he would be dead in minutes.

"JE, JE, JEEEE," Cthux's twisted laughter echoed through the growing miasma as he watched Alex struggle against the Blight infestation.

"It is a bit challenging to start the Blight Infestation with your little fake domain countering my law, but it was never going to stop me since you are still in a real elemental domain—My Domain," Cthux taunted, his voice dripping with sadistic glee.

"A large number of your affected cells, alive or dormant, are now infected with dying Blight disease, rapidly withering away while affecting your healthy cells."

"While you can heal or even completely destroy them, unless you can shield against my Blight law or kill me, you only have a few minutes before you drop dead from the disease, if not from my blade," Cthux continued, laughing maniacally.

Alex healed himself by reversing his condition, but not completely, allowing the infestation to spread through his body. He knew that without seeing results, the rat would not take the bait, and without an opportunity, this battle would only stretch.

The snickering laughter echoed as the violet miasma's presence intensified, the two elements clashing in a fierce battle for supremacy, their collision spiraling into a chaotic storm.

Cthux's barrage of attacks also grew fiercer, all while he rained down countless Blight needles whose mere scratch poisoned and decayed Alex's cells.

Cthux was pushing Alex into a corner, chipping away at his defenses until there was an opening for him to end this battle, a simple yet effective strategy.

Alex waved his hand and created a few dozen dark Stygian orbs, each one no larger than a baseball, yet they pulsed with an eerie glow, sending ripples through the surrounding darkness as they twisted their surrounding gravity.

All of the orbs, numbering seventy-eight in total, covering the entire dark domain, exploded simultaneously. Their silent explosion released the buildup of inky darkness in all directions, erasing every speck of violet miasma in an instant.

Each orb expanded, covering nearly thirty meters in diameter, their unleashed energy blanketing the surroundings and twisting the fabric of space.

Not a single inch was spared from the devouring darkness, as even the land and air within a few hundred meters surrounding the dark domain were engulfed. The deteriorating shadows hungrily erased every trace of foreign energy in their path.

It was a good attack, one that could level an entire city if left unchecked, but against an Elemental Ruler in his own domain, it was just a nuisance that would deal some minor damage. In Cthux's eyes, it was just a desperate distraction.

"Mana Amplification" "Mana Overdrive"

Alex pushed his ancient heart to its limits, pumping mana through his body at an extreme speed, his aura growing sharply as he bridged the distance between him and Cthux.

As the explosions took place, Alex closed the distance in an instant, his blade slicing through the air as he unleashed a torrent of concentrated energy.

A flood of inky darkness surged forth, engulfing nearly a third of the dark domain and Cthux, who was forced to stay in place as more than a dozen explosions took place all around him.

Alex took a deep breath, showing the fatigue of using two high-burn skills one after another. At this moment, Cthux appeared before him, his blade cutting into Alex's chest and heart while his left hand took hold of his right wrist, his nails digging into his flesh, pumping a stream of venom.

"Only if you were a little stronger," Cthux said, snickering as he filled Alex with the venom fueled by his law of Blight.

Alex did not waste a word on the laughing ratling. He let go of his sword and opened his hand, manifesting a small point of darkness that was barely visible in the ocean of darkness surrounding it.

Cthux appeared confused, but as Alex swiftly took hold of both his hands, he realized that something was off, and sensing the small point of darkness devouring the surrounding darkness like a hungry beast without growing in size sent shivers down his spine.